Leicester Mercury
MAN FAKED HIS HEALTH CONDITIONS IN A BID TO BEAT JUSTICE
A PAEDOPHILE has been jailed for a string of sex attacks on young boys after previously dodging justice by faking a severe stroke. John Siddell was accused of sexual assaults against three boys aged four to 14 but – with the help of his brother – he...
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I WAS LOCKED UP ON SUSPICION OF MURDER THAT NEVER HAPPENED
A MAN arrested on suspicion of murder – then released when police found the death was probably natural – says his treatment was a disgrace, writes Jasmine Siddon. Bobby Carmichael, 79, pictured, spent 15 hours in custody after a friend he was with...
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‘BARRED FROM TAKING SCHOOL PLACE AND EDUCATION’
A BOY potentially faces another year without formal education after reportedly being “barred” from the school place of his choice over cost issues. Felix Nienartowicz, six, has a diagnosis of ADHD Combined Type and Autism Spectrum Disorder and has...
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POLICE LEADER OPPOSES £2M TOWN SECURITY WARDENS PLAN
PLANS to introduce private security wardens to patrol town centres to tackle anti-social behaviour, low-level crime and shoplifting have been slammed by unions and the policeman speaking for rank-and-file officers. The £2 milllion project by the...
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A VERY HAPPY 100th, SIR DAVID!
SIR David Attenborough has inspired generations to learn more about the natural world, bringing adventure and wonder, dinosaurs and polar bears into the homes of millions of television viewers. The reassuring, hushed and reverential whisper has...
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NHS STAFF LEAVING IN BID FOR LEANER OPERATION
MORE than 100 NHS management and administrative staff are set to walk away from their jobs by next month, it has been confirmed. The voluntary redundancies come as two Integrated Care Boards - the people who manage local NHS budgets and set strategic...
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DRUGS GANG MEMBERS ARE JAILED FOR TOTAL OF 47 YEARS
EIGHT men who took part in a major cocaine dealing gang - including five from Leicestershire have been jailed. The men are the latest to have been put behind bars for their role in the network, which operated between this county and the West Midlands,...
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NUMBER OF YEARS OF LIVING IN GOOD HEALTH DECREASING
THE number of years people can expect to live healthily has fallen, according to new figures. A report to the city council found that healthy life expectancy for residents peaked at about 60 years in 2014-16 – but had declined to 58 years in...
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ON THE WAY DOWN - PUBS ARE ALREADY BEING HIT BY FOXES’ RELEGATION
PUBS and bars are already feeling the effects of Leicester City’s relegation, from the Championship to League One. Fewer fans have been going to the King Power over the past few weeks but the hospitality industry has been feeling the sting from City’s...
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‘UP TO £60M’ IN SAVINGS IDENTIFIED BY COUNCIL
SAVINGS of up to £60 million have been identified at Leicestershire County Council, its leader says. Councillor Dan Harrison said the savings were part of a range of measures that would also improve services, by “making every pound of taxpayers’ money...
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KNIFEMAN DROVE HIS CAR AT POLICE OFFICER
A MAN drove at a police officer trying to stop him as he fled the scene of a knife incident. Connor Bishop was spotted wielding a knife and walking towards another group of men at about 10.20pm on February 14 at Highcross shopping centre, in...
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CITY DOCTOR STRUCK OFF FOR SELLING FAKE CURES FOR CANCER
A CITY doctor who charged cancer patients up to £15,000 for treatments that would not work has been struck off, writes Dylan Hayward. The General Medical Council Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service has permanently erased Mohsen Ali’s name from the...
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PUNCH ‘THROWN TO SAVE FACE AFTER FIGHT KILLED VICTIM’manslaughter.
A MAN died following a punch after helping his alleged killer, a murder trial has heard. Prosecutor Peter Joyce KC told Leicester Crown Court Nathan Gothard, 36, got into a fight outside the Crown Inn, in Appleby Magna, on December 21. Mr Joyce said...
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PAIR ACCUSED OF MURDERING TODDLER
TWO people have appeared in court charged with murdering a 21-monthold boy. Omiel Gordon, 35, of Butterwick Drive, Beaumont Leys, Leicester, and Shalom Morgan, 23, of Morledge Street, Leicester, appeared before magistrates yesterday in connection with...
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‘I REALLY DO GET TO CALL VANELLOPE AN AMAZING WARRIOR PRINCESS’
ONE year on from a first-of-its-kind chest reconstruction surgery, a mum has said she is forever grateful to the city hospital team who have cared for her daughter since birth. Vanellope Wilkins, pictured, was born with her heart outside her body when...
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PENSIONERS FLEW IN FOR GOLDEN MILE GOLD THEFT
TWO pensioners from Colombia face jail and deportation after thefts from jewellers. Elizabeth Arguello, 69, and her husband Manuel Jairio, 67, stole a pair of gold chains worth £6,200 at Kalyan Jewellers, in Belgrave Road, Leicester. They went into...
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‘APPALLING’ CONDUCT - PC CONFESSES TO VISITING SEX WORKERS
A LEICESTERSHIRE Police constable was investigated after evidence he visited sex workers was discovered. Pc Noel Chambers was interviewed about the messages his colleagues had found and he confessed to paying for sex on two occasions in September 2024...
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WE WILL FACE THIS HEAD ON
LEICESTER City fans are calling for a “complete change” at the club. Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Hull on Tuesday confirmed City’s relegation to the third tier of English football for only the second time, 10 years after the highs of winning the Premier...
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‘CITY MAYORS NO LONGER IN FASHION
SIR Peter Soulsby has said it is unlikely his mayoral job will exist amid a major shake up of local government structure. Last year, Leicester’s mayor said he would give the city’s councillors a vote on whether they still wanted a directly elected...
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DRUNK WHO SHUT M1 FOR THREE HOURS ‘WAS SEEKING ATTENTION’
A MAN who brought the M1 to a standstill when he climbed on to a gantry and taunted police has been jailed. Leicester Crown Court heard that Braydon Knapp had been looking to draw attention to a grievance and was drunk when he climbed the gantry, near...
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PLANS FOR ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR POWERS ACROSS CITY
LEICESTER City Council is preparing to consult on extending powers to tackle anti-social behaviour outside the city centre. Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “I’m determined to use all the tools at my disposal to deal with those who spoil Leicester’s...
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PREDATOR ATTACKED WOMAN UNDER CANAL BRIDGE
A SEXUAL predator who waited to attack his chosen victim under a canal bridge in the centre of Leicester has been jailed. A hooded Warren Laight carried out a serious sexual assault on the young woman, who had been strolling along the Grand Union...
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CONVICTION FOR MURDER QUASHED BY APPEAL COURT JUDGES
A MAN jailed for the murder of a university lecturer has had his conviction quashed. Ben Field, pictured, who is originally from Market Harborough, was found guilty of murdering Peter Farquhar, 69, in 2015. Appeal court judges have now ordered a...
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HOUSEMATE KILLER GETS 15 YEARS AND A LIKELY DEPORTATION
A MAN who stabbed a housemate through the heart when asked to keep the noise down in the early hours has been sentenced to 15 years. Amritpal Singh, 45, who lived with three housemates in Evington, killed 32-year-old Amit Kumar in October. At his...
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‘5MM FROM NECK BEING BROKEN’
A WOMAN badly hurt when a car crashed into the takeaway she was in was “about 5mm from having her neck broken”, medics said. The woman suffered numerous injuries when a car hit Shokudo, in Bell Street, Wigston, on Saturday.
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TEENAGE GIRLS ARRESTED AS WOMAN LEFT WITH BROKEN PELVIS
POLICE have appealed for witnesses after a spate of muggings in the city. A woman in her 80s was left with a broken pelvis in one of the alleged incidents and is now in rehabilitation following hospital treatment. Four girls, aged 13, 14 and two aged...
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‘WE COULD HAVE DIED IF WE WERE SLEEPING...’
A WOMAN has told of her horror after a firework was hurled through her bedroom window and ignited her curtains while she lay in bed, The resident, who lives at Highland Court in Loughborough, had to scramble for pans of water to douse the flames and...
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REUNITED: SURGEON AND A SPECIAL PATIENT
THE UK’s youngest open-heart surgery patient has been reunited with the Leicester Royal Infirmary surgeon who saved her. Ikenna Omeje operated on Fleur when she was 28 days old, nearly three years ago. He said: “I see hundreds of patients, but you...
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WHEELCHAIR THIEVES LEAVE GIRL,6 HOUSEBOUND
THIEVES have stolen a specialised wheelchair used by a six-year-old girl - leaving her housebound. The mother of Bonnie appealed to whoever took the chair from the family’s driveway to return it. “We can’t do anything now, because she needs that...
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MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING ‘LOVING FATHER’ JIMMY
A MAN has been charged with the manslaughter of a “loving father”. Jimmy McKeown, 62, pictured, died in hospital shortly after an incident at Beaumont Leys Park, Leicester, on Monday. Joshua Moore, 33, of Fowler Close, Beaumont Leys, appeared before...
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SUSPECT, 33, HELD AFTER PARK DEATH
A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a 62-year-old found unconscious in a park, police have said. Police confirmed the 62-year-old victim died in hospital after being discovered in the park in Leicester on Monday. A...
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ARMED ROBBER IN STRING OF ‘TERRIFYING’ JEWELLERY SHOP RAIDS
A ROBBER carried out a string of raids on jewellery stores. Simon Harrald, pictured, had a knife and imitation gun while snatching gold rings at stores in Leicester and Market Harborough. Police said the raids were “terrifying” for shop staff.
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TAXI DRIVER HIGH ON COCAINE WHEN POLICE STOPPED HIM
AN UBER driver was found to be almost five times the limit for a cocaine chemical after being stopped by police. Adam Daley, 33, was on duty when he was pulled over in Vaughan Way, Leicester. Blood tests showed he had in his system nearly five times...
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THIEF STOLE A £15,000 GOLD NUGGET FROM HIS EMPLOYER
A GARDENER stole a gold nugget from the man he worked for and sold it for more than £15,000. Christopher Darlison, 42, of Briargate Drive, Birstall, pleaded guilty to stealing the nugget from Roger Bown. Last summer, Mr Bown, 86, gave Darlison money...
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RECORD FINE IMPOSED FOR ILLEGAL TREE FELLING
A GARAGE operator has received the largest fine of its kind for illegally felling trees. Motor Fuel Ltd pleaded guilty to ignoring an order to replant trees it cleared at Snells Nook Lane, Loughborough, in 2019, to make way for an...
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STONED DRIVER BADLY INJURED WOMAN , 80, IN CRASH
A STONED driver caused a head-on crash that left an 80-year-old woman seriously injured. Dalton Marlow, pictured, ignored priority for oncoming vehicles at a trafficcalming gate in Edith Weston and hit the victim’s Kia. She suffered numerous broken...
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NEAR £1M IN ILLEGAL GOODS SEIZED IN CITY SHOPS
THE scale of illegal vapes and drugs being sold in Leicester is extremely worrying, a health campaigner has said, as it was revealed almost £1 million of dodgy products have been seized from city shops by trading standards officers. There are fears...
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PAYBACK TIME FOR CON MAN
A CON man has been ordered to pay back £124,000 to dozens of victims duped by his fake investment plan. Mital Mehta, of Oadby, is already serving five years and three months in jail after pleading guilty to 21 counts of fraud by false...
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DANGEROUS DRIVER SENT TO JAIL OVER FATAL CRASH
A MAN has been sentenced for dangerous driving after he caused the death of a 28-year-old woman in a crash. Mantas Kudrevicius, 32, of Quorn, was driving towards Spalding on the A16 when he crossed into the opposing carriageway and collided headon...
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THE KILLER DAMNED BY CCTV
A MAN who stabbed a housemate through the heart in a late-night row and then left the scene to get rid of the weapon is now awaiting sentence after being found guilty of manslaughter. Amritpal Singh, right, attempted to dispose of the evidence, first...
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PROTRACTED IRAN WAR MAY DRIVE UP PRICES , NEXT WARNS
NEXT says it has already taken a £15 million cost hit from the Iran conflict and warned it may need to raise prices if the war is prolonged. The Enderby retailer said it has accounted for additional costs including fuel and air freight, on the...
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CITY ‘IS AT RISK’ OF A MENINGITIS OUTBREAK
LEICESTER is at risk of a meningitis outbreak because uptake of a vaccine is below average, a councillor believes. City councillors were told just under half of 13 and 14 years old received the meningitis ACWY vaccine last year. The national average...
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ATTACK ON NILA WAS ‘SHOCKING, BRUTAL, MERCILESS’
A MAN who launched a fatal attack on an innocent stranger seconds after crashing his car in Leicester city centre has been jailed for life. The judge condemned Chukwuemeka Ahanonu’s attack on Nila Patel as “shocking, brutal and merciless”.
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PREDATOR’S FIVE DECADES OF CHILD SEX ABUSE AT AN END
A PREDATOR who abused girls over five decades has been jailed for 22 years. George Davey, 76, pictured, of Shelthorpe Road, Loughborough, abused the first of his five victims between 1975 and 1985. A victim exposed his crimes in December 2022. Det...
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20,000 CITY HOMES PLAN POISED TO GET FINAL APPROVAL
LEICESTER’S local plan will go to councillors next week for final adoption. The blueprint includes a housing target of 20,730 homes over the plan period – to 2036 – some of which have been built. Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “New site allocations in...
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ACTRESS LOSES FINAL DAMAGES CLAIM IN ANTI-GAY COMMENTS ROW
AN actress dropped from a role at Curve after anti-gay comments posted online emerged has had her final attempt to win compensation dismissed by the Court of Appeal. Seyi Omooba, pictured, previously lost a claim against the Leicester theatre at an...
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SCHOOLS SHAKE-UP COULD SEE END OF THE ‘HOLIDAY FORTNIGHT’
PROPOSED changes to children’s summer holidays in Leicester and Leicestershire include the potential loss of the traditional “Leicestershire fortnight”. Both the city and county councils are looking to change their traditional early summer break and...
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‘MAN KNIFED HOUSEMATE IN DRUNKEN ARGUMENT’
AN ARGUMENT between two housemates over the amount of noise one of them was making in the early hours ended up with a fatal stabbing, a murder trial heard yesterday. The prosecution, opening the case against Amritpal Singh, alleged that he...
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POLICE HUNT ‘SERIAL CAR SCRATCHER’ AS MAN LEFT WITH HUGE REPAIR BILL
POLICE are investigating after drivers parking on a street were targeted by a serial car vandal - with one motorist facing a repair bill of up to £2,500, writes Dylan Hayward. Last week, three cars parked in Willow Park Drive, Wigston were scratched...
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‘BOGUS MEDICAL CHECKS FOR DVLA CARRIED OUT IN BACK OF A VAN’
SIX people have gone on trial accused of involvement in a Leicestershire firm that allegedly carried out bogus DVLA medical examinations in the back of a van. A man from Hinckley and a Loughborough woman are part of the group accused of participating...
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POLICE CHIEF SORRY OVER FORCE’S HANDLING OF KILLER
THE head of Leicestershire Police has apologised at the public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks over the standard of his force’s inquiry into a warehouse assault a month before the triple killings. Temporary Chief Constable David Sandall gave his...
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VICTORY FOR WOMAN FINED FOR STAND AGAINST CASH CUTS
A WOMAN who refused to pay a £100 fine after campaigning against council cuts in Leicester city centre is celebrating after her case was dropped. Heather Rawling was hit with the fine in May last year after a council warden said her campaign table was...
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BARBECUE RAPIST HAS SENTENCE CUT ON APPEAL
A RAPIST who attacked a sleeping woman by climbing through her window following a barbecue had his jail term reduced after appeal judges ruled he had not planned it in advance. Antanas Jancevskis, pictured, had his 15-year term quashed at the Court of...
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NILA KILLER WAS OUT OF JAIL ON LICENCE
A DRUG dealer who stamped to death a stranger had been released from prison on licence a year earlier, a murder trial heard. Leicester Crown Court was told Chukwuemeka Ahanonu, 25, was freed from a two-year term in July 2024, having been found with...
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PRISON DEBT ENFORCER’S PUNCH KILLED INMATE
A PRISON enforcer killed a fellow inmate with a single punch over a debt incurred over illegal vapes. Damien Ward, right, who worked on behalf of criminal gangs inside HMP Fosse Way in Glen Parva, killed burglar Dennis Green last summer. His victim...
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MUM LEFT PETRIFIED BY THREATS TO FAMILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
A MUM whose family were menaced on social media said she had been left “petrified” by the threats. The family were bombarded with threats by Bailey Hayes, of Beaumont Leys, after his brother was involved in a collision with a van. Messages to the son...
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PRINCESS OF WALES – AND GOLDEN MILE
THE Princess of Wales has made a surprise visit to Leicester’s Golden Mile. The visit to Belgrave Road saw the Princess tour family businesses, watch Indian dancing and sample chai at a family-run restaurant. Crowds gathered along the Golden Mile as...
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‘IT IS A MIRACLE YOU DID NOT KILL ANYONE’
THIS is the moment police arrested a banned driver who led them on a 80mph chase through 30mph areas. Adam Bennett, 22, who also ran red lights, crashed his BMW 4 Series at the end of a dangerous half-hour pursuit. Jailing him, the judge said: “It’s...
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WOMAN BEATEN BY NEIGHBOUR OVER £10 REFUSAL
A WOMAN who launched a group attack on a neighbour who had earlier refused to give her £10 has been given a final warning by a judge. Kira Newton, 40, took part in the assault on the woman alongside two accomplices. She led the attack after the trio...
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WINTER THE WETTEST ON RECORD
WINTER was the wettest on record in Leicestershire. Provisional data from the Met Office said rainfall totals for the three months to the end of February were about 70 per cent above average. Leicestershire was one of three counties, along with the...
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‘MY WEE STRONG FIGHTER FOUGHT THROUGH’
THE parents of a baby who overcame sepsis before two heart operations have launched a fund-raiser for the medics who treated him. Mum Sophie Robertson had been told to “prepare for the worst” when Kyran, pictured, got sepsis. But after the second...
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U-TURN ON PROPOSAL TO CLOSE SPECIALIST NURSERIES
PROPOSALS to close four nurseries for children with special needs have been dropped. Lift Beacon in Loughborough, Oasis Retreat in Melton and the Menphys sites in Wigston, pictured, and Sketchley Hill, Burbage, were to be closed under proposals from...
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VICTIM ‘WOULD HAVE HAD NO IDEA’ A KILLER WAS ABOUT TO ATTACK
WITNESSES have described the moment a man “ferociously” attacked a stranger. Nila Patel was fatally attacked in June last year outside Leicester Royal Infirmary by Chukwuemeka Ahanonu, who denies her murder but admits manslaughter. One witness told...
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KOHLI CASE POLICING IS REFERRED BACK TO WATCHDOG
POLICE have been told to look again at their handling of the death of Bhim Kohli after the case was referred to the policing watchdog, writes Dylan Hayward. Mr Kohli, 80, had previously been targeted by youths before he was fatally attacked in...
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OFFICER ERASED EVIDENCE OF KILLER’S ASSAULT AT WAREHOUSE
FOOTAGE recorded by a police officer responding to an assault by killer Valdo Calocane was deleted in error, a public inquiry has heard. The incident took place in Kegworth a month before Calocane, pictured, killed three people in Nottingham, in June...
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‘FAILINGS IN THE RESPONSE TO 2022 DISORDER’
POLICE and the city council should have responded better to the violence between religious groups across East Leicester in 2022, an inquiry has found. The report, compiled over nearly three years by academics from the School of Oriental and African...
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‘ANY MAN WHO HITS A WOMAN DESERVES TO GO TO PRISON’
A MAN attacked his girlfriend as she lay in bed, punching her repeatedly in the face. After the woman’s neighbour called 999, Radoslaw Kuchar, 41, told his girlfriend he would take her cat away if she told police what he had done. Judge Robert Brown...
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TALENTED RUGBY PLAYER WITH A HEART OF GOLD
TEAMMATES have paid tribute to a talented rugby player with “a heart of gold”. Jacob Hardwick, 20, pictured, died on Tuesday evening after he was involved in a collision on the A46, on his way to training for Leicestershire U20s.
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‘HOUSEMATE STABBING TOOK PLACE DURING ROW OVER CHORES’
A VIOLENT row between housemates over domestic chores that needed doing ended with one man in intensive care with stab wounds. The five men living in a house in Danvers Road, Leicester, had agreed to hold a 9am house meeting one day in August last...
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COUNCILS SET ASIDE £30M FOR REVAMP OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
ABOUT £30 million has been set aside by councils towards the cost of local government reorganisation. Officers anticipate costs will arise from streamlining services, investing in IT and managing the changes when district and borough councils are...
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MURDER CHARGES AS POLICE SEARCH FOR GARY GOES ON
TWO people were charged yesterday with the murder of a man who has not been seen for almost two years. Yosif Ibrahim, 43, of Broad Avenue, Leicester, and Omed Firuzman, 25, of Ashley Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, have both been charged with the murder of...
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