Jamie Manderson banned"You have a flagrant disregard for the law. This the worst case of driving while disqualified, in total, we have come across.

Jamie Manderson, 35, was given another driving ban, this time for five years, after he pleaded guilty before magistrates in his home town of Swindon.
The chief magistrate, Norman Ames, said: "You have a flagrant disregard for the law. This the worst case of driving while disqualified, in total, we have come across."
He sentenced Manderson to 24 weeks in prison, plus eight weeks from a previously imposed suspended jail sentence.
Manderson, a former nightclub bouncer, was first banned from driving in 1988 at the age of 15. He has never had a driving licence.
He has 51 convictions for driving while disqualified, and 51 more for connected offences of driving without insurance. A raft of other previous convictions include aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving in 2004 and 2005.
A decade ago, Manderson ran over a 12-year-old cyclist as he drove a robbery getaway car.At the time of his most recent offence, he was serving a community-based sentence for other car-related matters. The court was told he was driving in the Roughmoor area of Swindon on Saturday when police officers spotted him.
Rob Ross, Manderson's solicitor, told the court: "He still has a problem with motor cars. He always will." In the past, Ross, who describes his client as a "likeable idiot", has said Manderson suffers from "a serious addiction to cars".
Manderson is awaiting trial on two further charges of driving while disqualified in February. He denies the offences. Ames said a pre-trial review hearing would take place on May 7.

Read more »

Posted in: Jamie Manderson

£10,000 worth of cash and 719 items of stolen property have been recovered from homes, as well as around £5,000 of Class A drugs.

Operation Xantia, which took place in Boston, resulted in 44 arrests after police teams swooped on suppliers of the Class A drugs.The operation involved the execution of 35 warrants at addresses across Boston.And 12 of the 44 people arrested have been remanded in custody on drug charges. Thirteen have been bailed and the rest have either been released without charge, or pending further enquiries.Detective Chief Inspector Andy West, who headed up the operation, said: "I will be feeding back to my bosses in Lincoln about the success of the operation and about how other areas can learn from it."During Operation Xantia we have learned that there are links to other areas in Lincolnshire."This operation is the culmination of months of highly sensitive and detailed covert policing activity aimed at suffocating the supply of class A drugs."Although the operation has directly targeted drug dealers and suppliers, it has not just been about removing them from our community. We aim to have a positive effect on all levels of criminal activity that is fuelled by drug use."Raids took place in the last week and involved 75 police officers and dog handlers.
Around £10,000 worth of cash and 719 items of stolen property have been recovered from homes, as well as around £5,000 of Class A drugs.

Read more »

Posted in: Boston

‘card not present’ crime in the UK is far higher than official statistics suggest (1) and is getting worse. Over £500 million of fraud was attempted

Credit card fraud protection specialist, The 3rd Man, says that ‘card not present’ crime in the UK is far higher than official statistics suggest (1) and is getting worse. Over £500 million of fraud was attempted during 2007.This alarming figure shows that the appetite among fraudsters around the world to use the Internet for crime among UK retailers has far from diminished, and comes at a time when retailers need every penny of revenue they can get to cope with the effects of the global credit crunch.“Card not present fraud is a major problem which is not going away and clearly is getting worse as criminals increase their efforts to steal from retailers,” explains Paul Simms, CEO of the 3rd Man Group. “We aren’t just talking about petty thieves and opportunists here. This money also funds illegal drugs, organised crime and terrorism.”Retailers have become a soft target for fraudsters, although the introduction of Chip and PIN dealt a massive blow to criminals. Changing their focus to ‘card not present’ fraud, where the buyer does not have to be physically present at the point of transaction (such as Internet and Mail Order shopping), fraudsters have evolved their techniques to con retailers out of millions of pounds.However, many responsible retailers are now fighting back by using behavioural data screening techniques and by sharing their data through initiatives such as SuperSearch which scans millions of ‘live’ transactions for retailers each month.“Behavioural analysis detects around 80% of all attempted frauds, but retailers can be stung by exactly the same fraud committed with another retailer. By sharing their data they are protecting each other and in doing so will already save over £100 million in 2008,” says Simms. “But more can be done. We have a real opportunity to get on top of this problem through managed collaboration, involving retailers, consumers and the banks.”Shared databases contain clearly fraudulent and highly suspicious data, including listings of bad or questionable details such as email addresses, delivery addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses and card numbers.
Shared databases are not restricted to retailers as banks can also integrate their systems with services such as SuperSearch. “When fraud is detected a data feed is sent to the respective bank informing them that their cardholder has had details compromised,” explains Simms. “They can then act to re-issue the account number and possibly block the card. In the same way the banking community succeeded with Chip and PIN, this is another major way to protect retailers from card not present fraud.”

Read more »

Posted in: ‘card not present’ crime

Ten solicitors’ firms are being investigated with dozens of accident claims-handling companies for alleged insurance fraud.

Ten solicitors’ firms are being investigated with dozens of accident claims-handling companies for alleged insurance fraud. The investigation, reported in the Solicitors’ Journaltoday, is being undertaken by the Insurance Fraud Bureau. The alleged frauds involve law firms paying kickbacks to claims-handling companies for work. This is legal if it is open and transparent, but some of the claims turn out to be fraudulent. Law firms may be unaware that the claims being made are fraudulent but could still be guilty, according to the Insurance Fraud Bureau. Sue Jones, head of unit at the bureau, is urging partners of law firms to keep accurate records of clients and cases referred to them by claims management firms.
“If you’ve paid a referral fee to a claims management company and you end up taking money into your client account from a fraudulent claim, then you could be facilitating that fraud.” If insurers were saying consistently that they did not believe an accident took place, solicitors should review the claim, she said

Read more »

Posted in: solicitors’ firms

Sex trafficking ring forced Thai women to pay debt bondages, of £28,000

Police believe they have smashed a sex trafficking ring after arresting 12 people in dawn raids.The vice squad said the gang used an escort agency website as a front for a network of brothels.They rescued 60 foreign women, mostly Thai, thought to have been kept as sex slaves after the gang paid their fares to Britain.More than 100 police raided addresses across London after a four-month investigation. They said: "Some were forced to pay the largest debt bondages we've seen, about £28,000."

Read more »

Posted in: London

Douglas Fleming walked free after a jury found the case not proven.

Douglas Fleming, 43, who was accused of trafficking millions of pounds worth of coke from Columbia via Antwerp in Belgium, walked free after a jury found the case not proven.Property and construction firm boss Fleming, who used to be an officer with Central Scotland Police, had been targeted in a two-year undercover operation.
During the attempted sting, Fleming was followed to Antigua where he met alleged smuggler Martin Toner, 34.Toner was murdered and dumped in a field in Langbank in July 2004.He had been due to appear in court accused of importing cocaine.
Throughout his trial, Fleming admitted knowing Toner but maintained their only common interest was property.An undercover Belgian cop - known only as Mike - alleged Fleming, calling himself Ben, called him to discuss importing Colombian coke.
A Colombian dealer gave evidence he saw 200 kilos of the drug being loaded into a container allegedly destined for "Ben" and others.Mike claimed Fleming arrived in Antwerp on October 2001 to arrange drug distribution and order more.But at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, Fleming was cleared of smuggling coke along with Toner and others between February 2001 and September 2002.
A second charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine between February and May 2002 was also found not proven.Co-accused James Cameron, 49, of Lenzie Place, Spring burn, Glasgow, was found not guilty of the same offence.Cameron was stopped by police in a taxi in Glasgow and found to have £65,000 of cocaine in a plastic bag.
He said he was duped and believed the bag contained legal steroid dietary supplements.The two year long Operation Backslider was set up after detectives from the SCDEA received information that Scots were sourcing cocaine directly from Colombian drug cartelsUndercover cop, John Cuddihy, 42 told the court the initial probe targeted Fleming and Toner.The court was told the surveillance operation moved to the Caribbean in June 2001, when the pair were followed to Antigua.

Read more »

Posted in: Operation Backslider

Europe's largest sex-trafficker

Human trafficking networks and sex slavery gangs bring young women to the United Kingdom where they are “debt-bonded” and ordered to pay debts of up to £25,000 for travel and board. In order to pay off their "debt", the victims are sold between traffickers and forced into prostitution. Many commit suicide and of the survivors, a large number get infected with AIDS before they turn 20.Raids, have taken place over the past three days, uncovered a Moldovan-linked network of brothels and human trafficking which so far has led to the arrest of 15 people. They are suspected of being involved in an international criminal network managing people trafficking and prostitution, the Norwich Evening Post reports.
Moldova, Europe's poorest country, is the continent's leading supplier of underage girls for sexual exploitation. Human trafficking rings operate with impunity in Moldova, where they are for the most part under government protection and where a number of local government officials are involved as participants behind the rings. Due to a climate of impunity, no government officials have ever been charged with human trafficking and prostitution offenses in Moldova." - This major operation successfully disrupted a long standing organised criminal network. Human trafficking is simply modern day slavery and, as we've discovered, it is happening in this county," said British Detective Chief Inspector Christine Wilson, head of Norfolk's Vulnerable People Directorate. In the investigation into the gangs involved in human trafficking, British police received no cooperation of any kind from Moldova's authorities.
This is not the first time that British authorities are cracking down on Moldova's sex trafficking rings. In February, the British government announced the results of a case against Europe's largest sex trafficker, a Moldovan, who had all his assets seized in a record-sized bust in London. The ring-leader, Gheorghe Virtosu, earned $1.5 million by smuggling prostitutes from Moldova. London's High Court ruled that all of his assets, including five properties and hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash, were proceeds of crime and could be seized by the U.K.'s Assets Recovery Agency. Moldova is Europe's poorest country and has been officially classified as a failed state by Washington D.C.'s annual Failed State Index for the past two years in a row. It has poverty and corruption levels which are are below many African countries.The current Republic of Moldova has existed since 1991, when it unilaterally broke free from the Soviet Union. One year earlier, in 1990, the 'de facto' independent republic of Pridnestrovie had already declared its own independence. It had already left Moldova and been self-governing for a year by the time Moldova declared independence.

Read more »

Posted in: Moldova

Sid Fillery, once a Metropolitan Police detective sergeant, was one of five men arrested yesterday in connection with the murder of Daniel Morgan

former Scotland Yard detective was being questioned last night on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a man whose brutal killing he investigated 21 years ago. Sid Fillery, once a Metropolitan Police detective sergeant, was one of five men arrested yesterday in connection with the murder of Daniel Morgan, a private detective, in March 1987. Morgan, 37, was found dead in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, southeast London, with an axe embedded in his head.
The failure to catch Morgan’s killers has dogged the Metropolitan Police ever since. Five murder inquiries have been conducted, giving rise to allegations of corruption within police ranks and claims of a cover-up. Mr Fillery, 61, was a close contact of the dead man’s business partner, Jonathon Rees, and one of a number of officers who moonlighted as security guards for Southern Investigations. A year after the murder he was discharged from the Met on medical grounds and took Morgan’s position as co-director of Southern Investigations. The agency was wound up in 2003 and Mr Fillery now lives in Norfolk, where he is involved in the management of a pub. Mr Rees, 53, was also arrested yesterday over the murder, along with three other men — James Cook, 53, Glenn Vian, 49, and Garry Vian, 47. All five men attended a Central London police station where they were being interviewed. In a related development, a serving Metropolitan Police officer was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. Scotland Yard said that his arrest was not connected with the murder but with more recent events linked to the suspects.
Detectives investigating the 21-year-old murder of a private detective who was about to expose police corruption have made six arrests.
Daniel Morgan, 37, was found in a pub car park in Sydenham, south London in 1987 with an axe embedded in his head. His family maintained he was killed by a professional hitman.Mr Morgan from Islington, north London, was discovered outside the Golden Lion pub on March 10, 1987. His £900 Rolex watch was missing but the £1,100 cash he was carrying was still in his pocket.It is believed he was about to expose a south London drugs network involving corrupt police officers when he was murdered.A re-investigation into his death by Scotland Yard was launched in 2006following pressure from the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).During that probe, a number of significant witnesses came forward, Scotland Yard said.
As a result, arrests were made. Three men, aged 53, 49 and 47, returned on bail to a central London police station. They had originally been arrested in 2006 on suspicion of murder.Two others, a 53-year-old and a 61-year-old man, appeared by appointment and were arrested on the same charge.
A 24-year-old serving Pc was also arrested at his place of work on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.Police said his arrest was not connected to the murder, but to recent events linked to the other five arrests. He is in custody at a central London police station and has been suspended from the force pending further investigations.

Read more »

Posted in: Metropolitan Police Authority

"professional smugglers"Bernard Hughes, 48, and Fionnuala Kelly, 39, both from Cathedral Road, Armagh, and Malachy Hughes, 54,

Three men and a woman who made £1.2m through smuggled fuel have been given the UK's first crime prevention orders.
They will be barred from selling oil. Bernard Hughes, 48, and Fionnuala Kelly, 39, both from Cathedral Road, Armagh, and Malachy Hughes, 54, from the Portadown Road in the city received two years' imprisonment, suspended for five years, and had confiscation orders totalling £1.2m served against them. Michael Hughes, 58, from the Castleblaney Road, Keady, County Armagh, received nine months suspended for two years. s and their assets and bank accounts will be open to official inspection for the next five years.
They ran a distribution company that moved fuel from the Republic of Ireland to supply four filling stations in Northern Ireland in November 2004.
The four, described as professional smugglers, got suspended sentences. Mr Justice Stevens told Newry Crown Court: "There was a clear pattern of deliveries made mainly in the early morning, with tankers scouted to filling stations controlled by the defendants, evidenced by Customs and Excise surveillance."


The defendants controlled the distribution company and petrol stations.
They pleaded guilty to being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of excise duty. The judge said the four were "professional smugglers".
John Whiting, assistant director of criminal investigation at Revenue and Customs, said they wanted to tackle the illegal fuel trade at all points in the supply chain, from smuggling and laundering through to storage, distribution and eventual use.
"Serious Crime Prevention Orders are an important new tool to aid the reduction of harm caused by serious organised crime and Revenue and Customs is determined to make early use of them as a deterrent against those involved in fuel fraud," he said.

Read more »

Posted in: Armagh