London Police Chase Crash: Dead Men Named

Two men killed in a police pursuit in north London died of multiple chest injuries, an inquest has heard.

Gregory Jones, 38, and Shaka Henry, 33, both from Islington, died in Tottenham on Friday morning after the black Audi they were in jumped a red light, clipped a white van and crashed into a bridge, Barnet Coroner's Court was told.

The 30-year-old driver tried to flee the scene but was arrested and is currently in custody.

According to witnesses, police tried desperately to save the two passengers but they were pronounced dead at the scene.

The inquest will be delayed by up to six months while investigations by the Metropolitan Police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission continue.

Coroner Andrew Walker said: "It is likely to be between four and six months before the investigation by the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) and road traffic unit is complete.

"I am setting up a review date of July 2 this year, at which point I hope we will be able to have a look at both the reports.

"I am not setting up an inquest date at this point because the person driving the car is in custody and may face charges.

"If this happens it may delay an inquest hearing.

"I would like to offer sincere condolences to the members of the family."

The driver of the car was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, driving under the influence, driving without a licence and possession with intent to supply class A drugs, Scotland Yard said.

The driver of the white van was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

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Di Canio Won't Talk Politics But Divides Fans

Sunderland's new manager Paolo Di Canio has refused to talk about politics as anger over his admitted fascist beliefs grows.

His first press conference came as the Durham Miners' Association said it was demanding the return of the Wearmouth Miners' Banner, which is on permanent display in the Stadium of Light.

General Secretary Dave Hopper said: "The appointment of Di Canio is a disgrace and a betrayal of all who fought and died in the fight against fascism."

He added: "I, like many thousands of miners have supported Sunderland from infancy and are passionate about football. But, there are principles which are much more important.

"Our banner represents the Durham miners' long struggle for the rights of the working class, rights which were annihilated by fascism in Germany, Italy, Spain and Chile."

The stadium was built on the site of Wearmouth Colliery, where Mr Hopper worked for 27 years.

Di Canio's arrival over the weekend was swiftly followed by the resignation of local MP David Miliband as club vice-chairman.

The 44-year-old former Swindon manager and West Ham striker admitted in a 2005 interview with an Italian news agency to being "a fascist, but not a racist".

Di Canio refused to talk the press about his political beliefs

In a statement on Monday he called talk about his political beliefs "stupid and ridiculous".

At a somewhat heated session on Tuesday Di Canio said: "I don't have to answer any more this question, there was a very good statement from the club, (with) very, very clear words that came out from me.

"I don't want to talk any more about politics for one reason because I'm not in the House of Parliament, I'm not a political person, I will talk about only football."

When he did talk about football, Di Canio insisted his energy, knowledge and experience would help lift Sunderland away from the relegation zone.

Di Canio said: "When I got the call, I felt fire in my belly. I would have swam to Sunderland to take the job."

Some fans were ready to judge him on how he improves the club's performance but a Facebook page called Sunderland Against Fascist Di Canio has already received more than 3,300 'likes'.

Fan Mick Clark said: "There's no place for fascism in football ... di Canio's appointment disgraces a great club."

But James Hughes said: "Di Canio isn't planning on gathering an army to suppress and cause harm to others and his interest in being here is managing a football team and fighting for survival ... survival from relegation."

On the website of supporters' magazine A Love Supreme, Rob Johnson wrote: "Words can hardly express how sickened and ashamed I am by the appointment of Paolo Di Canio as our new manager."

Richard Parker said: "For the first time in nearly 40 years, I find myself questioning whether I can continue to support our great club in the way I have done over the years."

But Terry Reilly from West Sussex urged fans to let their new manager get on with his role "of turning round a sinking ship and judge him on his ability to motivate the team and avoid relegation".

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Teenager Shot Dead In North London Named

A 19-year-old man who died after he was shot in the chest in north London has been named.

Mohammed Hussein was found collapsed in Bounces Road, Edmonton at around 9.45pm on Monday.

Paramedics battled for half an hour to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jordan Simbananiye, 18, said: "At first I thought it was a firework, but then, when I looked out of the window and saw all the police and paramedics, I realised someone had been shot.

"They spent about 20 or 30 minutes trying to resuscitate him but then after about half an hour they put a blanket over him. Blood was just pouring out of him - it was shocking."

A police tent at the scene

Another witness Alexandra Koohi, 21, said she heard shouting and then shots an hour later.

She said: "I heard lots of shouting outside the kebab shop, then an hour later I was in my bedroom and I heard two shots.

"I looked out of my window and the guy was lying on the floor and there was blood everywhere."

She ran with a neighbour to help and said she saw three men running away after the shooting.

A third resident, who did not want to be named, said: "Earlier in the night a group of guys chased after the victim, who was in a car with a mate, and smashed a window.

"He then came back later and that's when the shooting happened. He was with three of his friends and I think they ran off when he was shot."

Detective Chief Inspector John Sandlin said: "I am appealing for anyone who was in the vicinity of Bounces Road or Walbrook House at 9.45pm to help us with our investigation."

Scotland Yard said a post-mortem will take place later today.

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Sun Crime Editor Faces No Elveden Charges

The crime editor of The Sun has been told by police investigating illegal payments to public officials that he will face no further action.

Mike Sullivan was arrested under Operation Elveden on January 28 last year and had been due to answer bail at a north London police station on Wednesday.

The 49-year-old, who was arrested at the same time as three other current and former journalists from the tabloid, welcomed the decision.

But he said: "I feel sadness that colleagues are still in the same predicament over the last 14 months, but hopefully they will find a successful resolution."

So far 61 people have been arrested under Operation Elveden, Scotland Yard's investigation into alleged inappropriate payments to public officials.

Of these, 12 people, including four former police officers, six journalists and two other public officials, have or will face court action.

A News International spokesman said: "We can confirm that the police have concluded that no further action is to be taken against Mike Sullivan - the Sun's distinguished crime editor. 

"After more than a year of uncertainty we are pleased that Mike can now carry on with his work without this distraction. 

"We are grateful to him and others for the professionalism they have shown under very difficult circumstances."

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Cashpoint Explosion: Man Arrested Over Raid

A 26-year-old man has been arrested after thieves used explosives to blow up a petrol station cashpoint.

Police were called to the Texaco garage in Weyhill, Hampshire at 4am on Sunday where they found the stand-alone cash machine had been blown open and the money from inside stolen.

Officers were called to the scene after a neighbour had reported hearing a loud bang.

The man from Bristol, who is in police custody, has been arrested on suspicion of theft and causing an explosion likely to endanger life or property.

CCTV footage of the explosion was released by Hampshire Police.

Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Murray said: "Although this was a relatively contained explosion and fortunately no one was injured, the unpredictable nature of this type of offence means we could easily have been dealing with serious injury or death.

"Our priority is to keep the public safe and by showing this CCTV footage, we hope it highlights how potentially dangerous an explosion of this type can be.

"We are aware of crimes of this nature occurring in mainland Europe which have had serious consequences and our advice to anyone using a cashpoint is to be extremely vigilant of any suspicious activity nearby.

"If you notice anything unusual, or see any wires or cables running from the machine, do not attempt to touch it and call the police immediately."

He said detectives were following up a number of enquiries and appealed for anyone with information that may assist the investigation to contact police.

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Cleared SAS Sniper To Face Firearms Retrial

By David Bowden, Senior Correspondent

An SAS sniper who had his conviction for possessing an illegal firearm and ammunition quashed by the appeal court is to face a military retrial on May 1, Sky News has learned.

Sergeant Danny Nightingale was convicted of having a 9mm Glock pistol and several hundred rounds of ammunition by a court martial last November.

But the appeal court overturned that decision because the military judge in the original case put "improper pressure" on Mr Nightingale to plead guilty.

2012: Sgt Nightingale has his sentence for possessing the pistol suspended

It did, however, allow prosecutors to consider a retrial and they have decided to do so.

It has left the Nightingale family shocked as they believed the legal proceedings had probably come to an end. Sgt Nightingale is forbidden to speak to the media by his Army bosses, but his wife Sally has spoken to Sky News.

"I think we were starting to get our hopes up that they wouldn't actually go ahead with the retrial," she said. "So the fact they have decided now to push along with a retrial ... has come as a little bit of a shock."

The Service Prosecuting Authority refuses to discuss the proceedings, but following the appeal court decision they described it as a "sensitive and important case".

Since Sgt Nightingale's original conviction Army doctors have ruled he is unfit for active service because of a brain injury sustained during a charity ultra marathon in the Amazon in 2009.

It means that whatever the outcome of the retrial the Special Forces soldier's military career is effectively over, though Mrs Nightingale says the family is getting help with his condition.

She said: "He's been given a mental health team, been given a brain injury team, they're all helping not just Danny, but us as a family to deal with his brain injury and what happens on a day to day basis, giving him coping mechanisms, giving us coping mechanisms.

"So we feel we are getting support now, from that side of life. But the fact is this is leading to a medical discharge. It's really sad for Danny to accept that it will be the end of his career in the army."

The Special Forces sniper previously served in Iraq and Afghanistan

Sgt Nightingale has spent 11 years in the SAS and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other operations around the world. A trained nurse, he invented a battlefield dressing which is named after him.

His lawyer, Simon McKay, is confident of winning the retrial.

"The prosecution here are going to have to prove that Sgt Nightingale had knowledge that he was in possession of a firearm," he said. "His defence is that he is suffering from a permanent brain injury.

"That resulted in him completely forgetting he was in possession and that essentially will be the issue before the court martial.

"My instructions are to fight the case and enter a non-guilty plea and that's what we intend to do."

Mrs Nightingale says her husband has already had a number of job offers and that the family "will just move on".

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Graham Ovenden: Artist Guilty Of Sex Offences

An internationally famous artist has been convicted of sex offences against young children who modelled for him in the 1970s and 1980s.

Graham Ovenden, 70, was found guilty of six charges of indecency with a child and one of indecent assault, by a jury at Truro Crown Court in Cornwall.

He was acquitted of five other charges of indecent assault.

Ovenden, who was not in court for the verdicts due to illness, denied all the charges relating to four children between 1972 and 1985.

Christopher Quinlan QC, defending, told Judge Graham Cottle that Ovenden was resting at home having received treatment at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

The incidents are said to have taken place at Ovenden's former and current addresses, in London and Cornwall, respectively.

Ovenden had been described in court by prosecutor Ramsay Quaife as "a paedophile", who abused children while they modelled for him.

The four victims contacted police long after the abuse is alleged to have taken place, and only when they realised exactly what had happened to them as girls, the court heard.

But Ovenden denied the abuse ever happened. He told the court he had taken pictures of children - including those in various states of undress - but said they were not indecent.

He described himself in court as a modest man, but told police he had a "major reputation" for creating "some of the best portraits of children in the last 200 years".

He also described the "witch-hunt" against those who produce work involving naked children, accusing police of "falsifying" images recovered from his home computer.

Ovenden, of Barley Splatt, near Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, denied having a sexual interest in children.

The judge adjourned sentence on a date to be fixed but told counsel the hearing would take place at Plymouth Crown Court.

Ovenden was released on bail.

A former pupil of pop artist Sir Peter Blake, Ovenden graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1968.

He has had exhibitions at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

In 1975 he founded the artistic movement the Brotherhood of Ruralists - artists who had left the city to live in the countryside.

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Windermere Boat Deaths: Engine Investigated

A faulty boat generator may have been responsible for the deaths of a mother and her daughter from suspected gas poisoning.

Kelly Webster, 36, and her daughter Lauren Thornton, 10,  from Leyland in Lancashire, died after eating lunch on the 25ft cruiser during an Easter holiday trip.

Cumbria Police said that "all signs" indicated that carbon monoxide poisoning was responsible for the deaths and said they were looking at a potential fault with a generator fitted to the boat's engine.

The boat was moored at Bowness when the family suffered breathing problems

Mrs Webster and her daughter were regular visitors to the area along with her partner, Matthew Eteson, who owned the boat, and had arrived at the lake on Easter Sunday.

On Monday, the three took the boat out and moored at Bowness before going to get some lunch then returning to eat it and falling asleep.

Emergency services were called at 4pm and paramedics tried to save the mother and daughter, who were air lifted to Royal Lancaster Infirmary, but they died in the hospital.

Emergency services at the scene (Pic: Josh Kynaston)

Mr Eteson, 39, who is the director of Preston Energi, a heating and plumbing company, was also taken to hospital for treatment and has since been released.

Detective Inspector Mike Brown, of Cumbria Police, said they were investigating whether the generator, which was added to the boat after manufacture, was the cause of the tragedy.

He said: "We cannot fully establish with any degree of certainty that that is the cause of any gas leak but that certainly looks to be a possibility.

"So we are looking at that and how that has been fitted and looking at it with experts that know how these things work and what could potentially go wrong."

The family were airlifted to hospital (Pic: Josh Kynaston)

A number of floral tributes have been left outside Mrs Webster's Leyland home and messages have been posted on Facebook.

David Hampson posted: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Matt, Kelly and Lauren, what a tragedy, they had such happy plans for their future together.

"To think a £20.00 CO monitor would have saved their lives. I will buy one today."

The scene of the tragedy

Ross Bullough wrote: "God bless Kelly and Lauren, rest in peace such a shame. And Matt we are all hoping you get better soon."

Josh Kynaston, who witnessed the emergency response, said crews had spent some time trying to locate the boat on the jetty.

He said: "They were trying to find the problem boat. Once they had found it, all the medics were out, all the fire brigade, all the police and they were trying to get to them as soon as possible because they knew straight away what what up, that they knew there was a problem with some gas leakage."

Boat Safety Scheme, a public safety organisation, said: "Each year boaters die or are made seriously ill from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Boats are built to keep water out, but this also makes them good containers for gases and fumes."

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Benefits: Osborne Defends Welfare Shake-Up

George Osborne has robustly defended the Government's controversial benefits shake-up - insisting Britain can no longer afford to reward people who do the "wrong thing".

Speaking at a supermarket distribution centre in Kent, the Chancellor condemned the old system as "fundamentally broken" and warned Labour that they were out of step with public opinion on the issue.

Mr Osborne insisted that nine out of 10 working households will be better off as a result of the welfare and tax changes.

He said people in Britain understood that the welfare system needed to change.

"In 2010 alone, payments to working age families cost £90bn," he said.

"That means about one in every £6 of tax that working people like you pay was going on working age benefits. To put that into perspective - that's more than we spend on our schools."

He pledged to make sure people were better off in work than out, thereby making the system much "fairer". Changes, such as cutting housing benefit for social housing tenants deemed to have a spare bedroom, were simply asking people on welfare to take the same choices as working families, he said.

Mr Osborne: People will no longer be better off on the dole than in work

The Chancellor told the Morrisons workers: "For too long, we've had a system where people who did the right thing - who get up in the morning and work hard - felt penalised for it, while people who did the wrong thing got rewarded for it.

"That's wrong ... This month we will make work pay.

"What this Government is trying to do is to put things right. We're trying to make the system fair on people like you, who get up, go to work, and expect your taxes to be spent wisely.

"And we're trying to restore hope in those communities who have been let down by generations of politicians, by getting them back into work."

Wider welfare and tax changes coming into force this month will also see council tax benefit funding cut, and working-age benefits and tax credit rises pegged at 1% - well below inflation - for three years.

Disability Living Allowance is being replaced by the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), while trials are due to begin in four London boroughs of a £500-a-week cap on household benefits, and of the new universal credit system.

Critics of the Government's housing benefit reforms call it a 'bedroom tax'

Mr Osborne dismissed "depressingly predictable outrage" about the reforms, claiming they would help the most vulnerable and "give people a ladder out of poverty".

He said: "Because defending every line item of welfare spending isn't credible in the current economic environment.

"Because defending benefits that trap people in poverty and penalise work is defending the indefensible.

"The benefit system is broken. It penalises those who try to do the right thing and the British people badly want it fixed.

"We agree - and those who don't are on the wrong side of the British public."

But Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls told Sky News that "the truth" was that households were losing out because of the reforms.

Citing an independent study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies showing the average family would be £891 worse off this year as a result of all the coalition's changes since 2010, he added: "Working families are worse off and now the Government is cutting the top rate of income tax only for the richest people.

"A millionaires' tax cut paid for by millions of working people. That's not fair, that's not right."

Mr Duncan Smith has been urged to prove a claim he could live on £53 a week

Changes that mean the rate for top-rate taxpayers has been reduced from 50% to 45% also come into effect this month.

Sky News Deputy Political Editor Joey Jones said Mr Osborne's speech was "combative" and "aggressive".

"He has not apologised for the stance he is taking," he said.

It came a day after Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, the architect of the reforms, was facing a a growing backlash after suggesting that he could get by on £53 a week, rather than his current after-tax income of £1,600 a week.

In the wake of the comment in a radio interview, tens of thousands of people have signed a petition on the change.org website, calling for the minister to try surviving on that money for a year.

During his speech on Tuesday Mr Osborne refused to be drawn on whether he could manage on £53 a week. In response to a question, he said: "I don't think it's sensible to reduce this debate to one individual's state of circumstances.

"We have a welfare system where there are lots of benefits available to people on very low incomes. 

"This debate is not about any individual, it's about creating a welfare system that rewards work."

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Derby Fire: Philpotts Found Guilty Over Deaths

By David Crabtree, Midlands Correspondent

Mick Philpott and his wife Mairead have been found guilty of the manslaughter of six children in a fire at their house in Derby.

Their friend Paul Mosley was also convicted of manslaughter over the petrol-fuelled blaze that engulfed the semi-detached house at Allenton, Derby in May last year.

Mick Philpott stared straight ahead as the guilty verdict was read out, but when his wife was convicted he shook his head as she looked down at the floor clasping a tissue in her hands.

Mosley showed no emotion as he heard the guilty verdicts.

Paul Mosley showed no emotion as the verdicts were read

Shortly after the verdicts, the court was cleared because a spectator, believed to be one of Mairead Philpott's sisters, shouted: "You murdering b******".

And as he was led from the dock, Mick Philpott shouted: "Not over yet, mate!"

The 56-year-old was attempting to frame his ex-mistress and win custody of his other offspring when he set the fire, the court heard. Lisa Willis, 28, had left the house with her five children and the Philpotts wanted them back.

But as a jury at Nottingham Crown Court was told "the plan went horribly wrong".

Five of the children, who died of smoke inhalation as they slept, were Mick and Mairead Philpott's; Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, and Jayden who was five.

Duwayne, 13, who was Mairead Philpott's child from a former partner, died in hospital three days later.

Paul Mosley told friends that they had "actually rehearsed" the fire six weeks earlier and the plan was for him to rescue the children. He would break in the back door while the Philpotts were out front.

The bathroom of the house in Allenton after the blaze

The jury heard a disturbing and chaotic 999 call made by the Philpotts. In it Mick Philpott was heard to say: "I can't get in." He had tried to punch and smash his way through an upstairs window, but had been beaten back by the smoke.

While it was being played, he said: "I can't listen to it." He tried to leave the dock but he was stopped by prison guards and sat sobbing with his head in his hands.

As the bodies were being carried from the house, Mick Philpott immediately began to blame Ms Willis, who he had earlier reported to police for allegedly threatening him and his family.

Mick Philpott said tried to get back in through an upstairs window

Samantha Shallow, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Today's verdict shows that the children died as a result of the actions of Michael and Mairead Philpott and Paul Mosley when they set the fire.

"It was started as a result of a plan between the three of them to turn family court proceedings in Mr Philpott's favour. It was a plan that went disastrously and tragically wrong.

"Amid all the details of the defendants' personal lives that have come out in court, it should not be forgotten that at the heart of this case were the deaths of six innocent children."

In a statement read by police on the steps of Nottingham Crown Court, Mick Philpott's sister Dawn Bestwick, said: "My family and I have attended court each and every day and listened objectively to all the evidence in this trial to understand what happened to our six beautiful children on May 11 2012.

"Following today's verdict, we the family of Michael Philpott, believe justice has been served."

Anthony Latham QC prosecuting said that people at the hospital noted that Mick Philpott was "spotlessly clean" for someone who had been caught up in a house fire.

He told the court that afterwards he had sex and smoked cannabis to try to blot out the horror of what had happened.

"I was finding it hard to cope," said Mick Philpott. "Having sex and smoking cannabis was one way of blocking it out. It was my idea, not my wife's."

After the blaze police bugged their hotel room and a police vehicle.

A glove and an empty plastic bottle found near the scene

Mick Philpott was heard to say to Mairead: "Don't worry, we will walk through it. I promise you that, unless you want me to blab about it ... don't say nothing now, don't say nothing."

In another part of the recording he is alleged to have said: "I didn't mean to do it, on my life."

The court was told of the unconventional lifestyle at the house in Victory Road, Allenton.

Mairead Philpott and Ms Willis took it in turns to sleep with Mick Philpott in his caravan on the drive. He said he preferred Ms Willis, but believed that at one time they had been one "big happy family".

The wages or benefits of both women were paid into Mr Philpott's account. He was said to have had complete control over both of them.

At times Mairead Philpott had sex with her husband and co-defendant Paul Moseley. The Philpott's went dogging together. Mairead said dogging was the only time her husband gave her proper attention.

He had mentioned divorcing his wife to marry his mistress but Lisa Willis lost her patience with the arrangement in Victory Road and left the home with her five children three months before the fire.

On the day of the fire, Ms Willis and Mick Philpott were due in court to discuss custody of the children.

Sentencing is due to take place for all three on Wednesday at 10.30am.

More follows...

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