Judge tells Delroy Grant his crimes are ‘in a league of their own’ and says he should face possibility he may die in prison The serial sex attacker Delroy Grant has been sentenced to life in prison for the 17 years of terror in which he attacked at least 203 elderly people in their homes. The “night stalker” will serve at least 27 years and was warned by the judge that he could die in prison. Grant, 53, who was convicted at Woolwich crown court, London, on Thursday of 29 charges relating to burglaries, attempted burglaries, rapes and indecent assaults against 18 elderly people between October 1992 and November 2009, was told by Judge Peter Rook: “Your offending is in a league of its own.” The Metropolitan police force has apologised for blunders which led to 146 attacks being committed after he should have been arrested . The judge told Grant, a former minicab driver, he was a “very dangerous man capable of committing heinous crimes and causing incalculable harm”. “You targeted elderly victims living alone. Your actions blighted the remaining precious years of their lives. Their homes, where many of them had lived for years, should have been their safest refuge where they could have expected to live their lives undisturbed and at peace. “You chose to invade their homes when they were in their beds at night. It’s hard to imagine the extreme fear that the feel of your gloved hand and the sight of your masked figure looming above them must have been felt by your victims in their beds.” The court also heard statements on Friday from Grant’s victims and their families about the impact of his crimes. One 85-year-old woman, referred to as Miss J for legal reasons, said she still continued to suffer from her ordeal nearly nine years ago. She was 77 when Grant burgled and indecently assaulted her at her bungalow in Shirley, Croydon, in October 2002. In a statement from 2003, she said: “I have found that time is not a great healer. I don’t think it’s got any easier over the last year. I certainly haven’t got back my peace of mind. Nobody can guarantee it won’t happen again.” Asked by the judge if her experiences at Grant’s hands still affected her, Miss J replied: “If I go out I like to be home before dark. I do a lot of locking and bolting, and taking precautions … It changed my life.” The judge paid tribute to Miss J’s “courageous” testimony and quoted from the son of another of Grant’s victims, who said: “It has ruined the winter years of my mother’s life, and she has to live with this for the rest of her life.” Grant received four life sentences for three rapes and one attempted rape of elderly women. He was also given concurrent eight-year sentences for seven indecent assaults, and concurrent six-year sentences for 18 burglaries and attempted burglaries. Courtenay Griffiths QC, defending, offered no mitigation for Grant other than to point out that his age meant he would probably spend the rest of his life in jail. The judge noted that in all but one case Grant targeted elderly people living alone, suggesting that his attacks involved considerable planning. He said: “Your offending spans a period of 17 years. Five London boroughs were affected by your offending. During that period your activities must have terrified a whole community, as your counsel accepted. “Thousands of people in south London have been living in fear that they might be your next victim.” Crime James Meikle guardian.co.uk
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We need a revolution in our expectations to place equality at the heart of a new development paradigm • Madeleine Bunting: What will aid look like in 2031? In the 20th century, increased production was a fairly successful response to absolute poverty, which had been the lot of most of the human race for most of history. But in the 21st century, that path has come to a dead end, as the planet reaches its resource limits. A more equal distribution of wealth needs to return to the centre of development theory. There are many types of poverty but the one most people associate with international development is the absolute kind. If you are likely to die in childbirth, or your kids can’t go to school because they have to work, or you don’t eat enough food every day to keep your body functioning properly, then you are poor in this absolute sense. Absolute poverty declined faster in the last century than it has at any time in human history. It has been eradicated in the 60 or so high-income countries, and reduced to pockets in most of the almost 50 upper middle-income countries. Crucially, it has reduced in most poor countries too. After the lost decade of the 1980s, the recent reports on the millennium development goals show that the last couple of decades in particular have shown great gains in human development (although the poorest, as ever, aren’t doing as well as the richest). But these gains are under threat. To understand the future of development we have to look briefly at its history. In the early days of economics, when Adam Smith , David Ricardo and Thomas Robert Malthus were laying down the foundations of a new social science, the study of inequality (ie the distribution of wealth) was paramount. Economic theory suggested that working men and women would live on or around the poverty line as a consequence of the accumulation of capital and the need to keep wages low. Redistribution, however unlikely (Karl Marx thought it would require revolution), was the only way to address this inevitable and widespread poverty. But when I studied economics a few years ago, I had to ask the lecturers to add a session on inequality to the curriculum. One of the broader-minded professors agreed, but they still wouldn’t include a question on it in the exam. It had simply fallen off the curriculum of modern economists. Why? Because the early economists’ predictions turned out to be wrong on this. Capitalism in industrialising societies led to significant gains in the living standards of the average person. Working people started to worry less about equality when it became clear just how much their lives were improving. So economics – and development – became about how to grow production, and equality became a forgotten area of study. The political struggles for more just societies played their part in ensuring that the fruits of wealth were better shared, and life would have been even better for the poor had struggles for more equality been much more successful. But, ultimately, increased production in the last century was an adequate answer to the problem of absolute poverty. So why can’t we just keep going on with more of the same in this century? Why can’t the world’s poorest countries follow the example of the already industrialised? The answer is simple. There is physically not enough to go around. We have reached the limits of our planet’s resources. In a world with limitless copper, coal and iron, there is, in theory, enough for everyone. This is the world inhabited by rich-world economists and politicians who are used to scouring the planet for all their country’s need. But in the real world, there is a limited amount. What the rich countries take, the poor cannot have. Inequality, both within and between countries is on the rise. Fears about food production and erratic climate change are perhaps the two areas where the world is most dangerously off-balance. As resources run thin, more production is no longer an option to respond to persistent poverty. Redistribution has to come into play. Another thing the early economists got wrong was the fraught issue of population. Malthus believed that as wealth increased, so would population. But the opposite appears to be true. Along with access to contraception, simply becoming better off appears to have encouraged parents to have fewer children rather than more. This is good news, and it is another urgent argument for better distribution of wealth. Wealthier communities will see population decreases, which will in turn make living on our planet more sustainable. Redistribution is the hardest of political ambitions, because very few people are willing to see their children’s standard of living reduce below theirs. In the past, violent revolution has been the way to achieve serious redistribution. This time around, we need a revolution in our expectations to place equality at the heart of a new development paradigm. If it is not swift and wise, then it may be violent. It will certainly require massive and sustained political pressure. So we need to find a way of making reduced consumption aspirational. We need to convince each other that living with fewer things is good for us. We need a new development theory for a new century. There have always been many reasons to fight for equality. Ending absolute poverty is once again definitively one of them. Economics Global economy Development Population Jonathan Glennie guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Cenk Uygur Slams Gingrich and Rumsfeld for Having No Credibility to Criticize Actions in Libya
March 25, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Whether any of us agree or disagree on the president’s decision to go into Libya, Cenk Uygur is right here about hypocrites Newt Gingrich and Donald Rumsfeld and their recent comments on the subject. They have absolutely no credibility to criticize anything. UYGUR: Look, the Republican Party is the how-to guide on how not to deal with the Middle East. Listening to the GOP for advice on the Middle East is like going to Bernie Madoff for financial advice. Dave already wrote about Newt’s flip-flopping here — Gingrich leads the right-wing hypocrisy brigade on Libya: First slams Obama for not acting, then slams him for acting . This is the interview with Politico that Cenk was referring to in the clip above — Donald Rumsfeld: White House lacks goals, vision for Libya . As Uygur mentioned, it appears NATO has agreed to take over the no-fly zone in Libya — NATO to take over no-fly zone . It looks like the United States is still going to be flying the bulk of the missions there for who knows how long though. I’m still waiting for someone to tell me why we can afford this but we can’t afford to pay our teachers. When are we going to have some calls for some “shared sacrifice” from the have-mores for these military interventions?
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Don’t think of the clocks going forward as losing an hour’s sleep – a few more minutes of sunshine can change us for the better Many people moan like mad at the thought of losing an hour’s sleep. I do. But the move to British Summer Time is actually about opportunity, not loss. One can mitigate for sleep deprivation by going to bed progressively earlier during the week leading up to the clock change, even if that means shortening time spent drifting off in front of the TV. The complainants are surely providing an example of folk being ridiculous. The advent of British Summer Time enables us to strengthen our relationship with nature. The longer evenings allow us to do a little in the garden – without sacrificing a chunk of precious weekend, or wander through the park or woods to experience the subtle daily changes of spring, and to get home without suffering brain-damage-by-headlight-glare. Our relationship with nature has waned so much, in the main due to sublimation by technology, that we’ve invented a new, narrower term for it – “biodiversity” – as a way of reducing it down into something that fits the modern idiolect, and which excludes us from it. TIn fact, nature includes us and we can have a relationship with it. There is growing evidence that a dose of nature is seriously good for us – physically, mentally and dare I say it, spiritually. A few minutes of sunshine and green leaves can change our day for the better, and can help us sleep – assuming the eructation of mad March frogs in the garden pond (or late night car door slamming) permit it. The problem is that none of this fits in comfortably with the modern obsession of measuring everything. But nature doesn’t do targets, monitoring and reporting, as the biodiversity enthusiasts will duly find. Then there are those beastly birds that wake us at dawn. But surely they are preferable to an alarm clock, or to one’s partner’s snoring? And of what do they sing? Why not listen to them and work it out for yourself. The dusk chorus is easier for us to cope with than its dawn equivalent, so just try listening to your local blackbird one evening (mine is called Percy Bysshe) – you should be able to hear him above the traffic. We’re talking of five minutes of your time. If you can’t face that, listen to it online . Above all, the changing of the clocks announces the end of winter (although April snow is not uncommon) and, better still, provides us with the chance to immerse ourselves in spring. And spring is all about radical positive change and the promise of summer. It should have a capital S. Our great outdoors – garden and countryside – transforms itself over a few short weeks, allowing us the chance to change with it. This spring I’ve launched my own personal campaign, called must change my life. I’m tweeting the highlights . The campaign’s about enhancing my personal relationship with nature, and sharing it. It’s not about pursuit of knowledge but depth of experience. Best of all, although spring is notoriously variable, this spring seems to be winding itself up spectacularly – trees, butterflies, primroses, daffodils, birds, frogs et al. Now is the time to seize the moment and explore the great outdoors, and deepen your relationship. Then bring on the great British summer. Matthew Oates is a nature conservation adviser and butterfly expert for the National Trust Biodiversity Birds Wildlife Conservation guardian.co.uk
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Jenni Simpson applies to court of appeal for right to take on case amid fears it could lead to claims being traded like commodities A vast, speculative market in negligence claims could be created if a widow from Norfolk persuades the court of appeal to let her pursue someone else’s NHS compensation case. The highly unusual legal manoeuvre threatens to congest the courts with thousands of applications that could force public authorities to pay out massive sums to avoid being bankrupted by litigation costs. Jenni Simpson, from Norwich, paid £1 for the “right” to take over the compensation case of former hospital patient Alan Catchpole, also from Norwich, who contracted an MRSA infection while undergoing surgery in 2005. The NHS Litigation Authority, which paid out £827m in claims and costs last year, warned that if Simpson’s case succeeds it would be a “worrying development” that could lead to claims “being traded like commodities”. Her novel method has twice been struck out by lower courts. “It’s a very strange case,” a spokesman for the NHS Litigation Authority said. “It’s the only claim of its type.” The authority is funding the hospital trust’s defence. Catchpole, the court of appeal was told, decided not to pursue any claim himself. Simpson’s interest in picking it up is not financial: her husband was diagnosed with the same superbug at Norwich and Norfolk University hospital before he died. She wants to highlight the hospital’s alleged failure to control the infection. But her success could open the floodgates to a secondary market in compensation claims driven by profit and buoyed up by no win, no fee agreements. Simon Redmayne, representing Simpson, said her motive was not financial, but to see the hospital’s infection control procedures tested in court and to “heighten the appreciation within the hospital that it needs to deal with MRSA”. He said there was no principle of law preventing alleged negligence victims assigning their right to take court action to third parties and, even if there was, it was anachronistic in light of the Human Rights Act and modern attitudes to access to justice. Although he now has no direct interest in the case, the court heard Catchpole “cares about the result” and would like an apology from the Norfolk and Norwich University hospital NHS trust. But Jeremy Morgan QC, for the trust, said it was against public policy for Simpson to be able to step into Catchpole’s shoes and pursue his damages claim herself. If the arrangement between Catchpole and Simpson were upheld, there would be nothing to prevent solicitors and “claim farmers simply buying causes of action from injured people and running the cases for themselves,” he told the court. “There would be a ready market for the sale and purchase of claims,” he said. NHS trusts would also find themselves “on a hiding to nothing” in trying to defend claims by impecunious claimants – backed by legal aid, or no win, no fee deals – and would be forced to settle cases for more than they were really worth, just to save legal costs. “By substituting a person of straw as a claimant, it ensures that, whatever the merits of the dispute, the rational course for the defendant is not to go to court itself, but to buy off the claim as cheaply as possible,” he added. Judgment has been reserved until a later date. NHS Health MRSA and superbugs Court of appeal Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
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Troubled retailer HMV denies it is in takeover talks but confirms it may sell book chain and Canadian operation HMV confirmed this morning that it is looking at selling off the Waterstone’s chain of booksellers, but insisted that it is not in talks about a takeover for the whole group. Shares in the troubled retailer jumped 7.5% to 18p, a rise of 1.25p, after it updated the City on its plans, which could also include finding a buyer for its Canadian operation. Speculation has swirled that its shareholder, the Russian oligarch Alexander Mamut, could break up the business ever since HMV posted a shock profit warning following poor trading over Christmas. Mamut has now assembled a 6.1% stake in HMV. There has been speculation that Tim Waterstone, the entrepreneur turned novelist who founded the bookshop in 1982, is plotting a bid for Waterstone’s with Mamut . He previously teamed up with Mamut to invest in Bookberry, a now bankrupt Russian bookstore chain. “In response to press speculation, the board confirms it is exploring strategic options in respect of Waterstone’s and HMV Canada,” HMV said. “The board also confirms that no discussions are taking place with respect to an offer for the group.” Amid worries that it could breach loan covenant tests, the company stressed that its lenders “continue to be supportive, our banking facilities remain fully available and the group is continuing to maintain a regular and constructive dialogue with its lenders”. HMV issued its second profit warning of the year at the beginning of the month, saying trading conditions had remained difficult since the start of the year. It also admitted that it expected to fail some parts of a critical loan covenant test next month and was busy renegotiating borrowing conditions with its bankers. The company is already planning to close up to 20 Waterstone’s outlets and about 40 HMV stores as part of a cost-cutting drive. HMV Retail industry Waterstone’s Booksellers Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk
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Stars including Jason Schwartzmann, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Bruce Willis to join new film Moonrise Kingdom Jason Schwartzmann, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Bruce Willis will join a stellar cast for Wes Anderson’s latest film , Moonrise Kingdom, according to reports in the US. News of Anderson’s follow-up to Fantastic Mr Fox first emerged in November. Now a small casting agency based in Rhode Island, where the movie will be shot, has confirmed the cast list. Schwartmann and Murray are old hands as far as Anderson is concerned, while Swinton and Willis will make their debuts for the film-maker. Ed Norton and Frances McDormand are also joining the production. Moonrise Kingdom is a 60-set tale which revolves around two young lovers who take off from their New England hometown causing friends and family to embark on a search for them. Willis, according to previous reports, will play the town sheriff, who’s also having an affair with the missing girl’s mother (a role pencilled for McDormand), while Norton has his eye on the part of a scout master. Murray will play the girl’s father, described as having his own issues . Anderson has written the screenplay along with regular collaborator Roman Coppola. Moonrise Kingdom will shoot on Aquidneck Island, Rhode Island, and in “numerous locations around the state” in late spring. The area has been a favoured location for Hollywood in recent years due to a generous tax relief program for film-makers, but Anderson’s movie could be one of the last to benefit. Governor Lincoln Chafee is currently proposing to end the tax-credit scheme on 1 July. Wes Anderson Bill Murray Tilda Swinton Bruce Willis Ben Child guardian.co.uk
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• Tottenham anxious over winger’s hamstring problem • Spurs face Real at the Bernabéu on Tuesday week Gareth Bale faces a race against time to be fit for Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid on Tuesday week having being forced to withdraw from the Wales squad for Saturday’s Euro 2012 qualifier against England with a hamstring strain. The injury, which is a severe blow to Wales’s hopes of causing an upset at the Millennium Stadium, came to light after Bale complained of tightness in his hamstring during a warm-up on Tuesday. When the 21-year-old winger was unable to take part in training on Wednesday, Wales sent him for a scan which revealed he had been carrying the injury at Spurs the previous week. Bale played 90 minutes against West Ham United on Saturday but that was his first full game since 16 January, having been sidelined with a back problem for six weeks. He was struggling with his hamstring towards the end of that time and Spurs will be anxious that the latest setback could threaten his involvement at the Bernabéu. Gary Speed, however, tried to offer a more positive prognosis. The Wales manager said Bale could feature against Real Madrid and also claimed that his decision to declare him unfit for the England game had reduced the risk of him picking up a serious injury that could have ended his season. “The decision was made last night as soon as we got the scan,” said the Wales manager. “I think you can tell on the scans now with the fluid and blood that he was injured from last week. I’m no expert, but I’m sure it’s only a 10-day thing.” Speed could have been forgiven for questioning the wisdom of Harry Redknapp’s decision to keep Bale on the pitch throughout the game against West Ham, although he seemed determined to avoid becoming embroiled in a club versus country row with the Spurs manager. There had been the potential for a major fall-out on Thursday morning, when Raymond Verheijen, the Wales assistant manager, wrote “the incompetent amateurs struck again” on his Twitter page. Spurs reacted angrily to Verheijen’s comments, believing they were directed at them for their handling of the injury, but both the Dutchman and Speed have since clarified that he was referring to a newspaper article that incorrectly suggested Bale had strained his hamstring during training for Wales. “It was a total misunderstanding. In no way did that refer to Tottenham,” said Speed. “I can understand how it might be portrayed but I think the fact that it was reported that he did his hamstring in training on Wednesday, that was the incompetent bit.” Asked whether he had told Verheijen, who in the past has used Twitter to voice his disapproval of Roberto Mancini’s training methods at Manchester City, to rein in his comments, Speed replied: “Absolutely. It’s caused an unnecessary problem but we’ve talked about it and nipped it in the bud. There will be no more tweeting of that sort.” Aware of the problems international managers have had with their club counterparts in the past, Speed seemed keen to keep Redknapp onside and build bridges with Tottenham. “We don’t put any blame on Spurs. [Bale] was fit to play 90 minutes and played 90 minutes. He came to us, and maybe if we hadn’t been so thorough in our testing, he may have played. But what we don’t want is for him to play and then pull up and put himself out for the season. The player’s welfare is of paramount importance and that’s what’s happened.” Speed did, though, reveal that Bale, who will continue to receive treatment in Wales, would have preferred to delay the decision. “He wanted to wait and see if he could give it a go,” he said. “But the nature of the strain showed up on the scan. Although England is a huge game and we would want Gareth in, we don’t want to be putting him back for the rest of the season. Spurs also have some massive games coming up.” The Wales manager described Bale’s absence as a “big blow”, although he added: “Any team in the world would miss a Gareth Bale but between now and the next three and a half years we’re going to miss players, and if Wales are going to achieve anything we’re going to have to cope. We’ve had a great week training and the lads are really up for it so it’s not the end of the world.” Euro 2012 Wales England Gareth Bale Stuart James guardian.co.uk
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Josh Halliday speed tests the new iPad against the original, and finds a running theme of small, incremental improvements Josh Halliday Richard Sprenger
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Democracy activist Liu Xianbin has already served 10 years in prison for subversion A Chinese democracy activist has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for advocating government change in online articles. The trial came amid a crackdown on activism in China that may reflect government anxiety about unrest inspired by uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. Dozens of well-known Chinese lawyers and activists have vanished, been interrogated, held under house arrest or criminally detained for subversion. Activist Liu Xianbin, who has previously spent a decade in prison, was found guilty of inciting subversion of state power by the Suining intermediate people’s court in Sichuan province after a trial that lasted a few hours, his wife, Chen Mingxian, said. Chinese law says inciting subversion carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, but a court can impose a longer sentence if the offence is deemed particularly grave. Chen said she and Liu’s elder brother were allowed to attend the trial. She said her husband was calm and composed and looked relatively well, but that the judge frequently interrupted Liu and their lawyer’s attempts to present a defence. “The 10-year sentence to me, because we’ve already been through 10 years … is a repeat of the painful process, one in which I can only watch and wait anxiously,” said Chen, who is a schoolteacher. The couple have a 13-year-old daughter. China’s government routinely uses the subversion charge to jail activists it considers troublemakers. It is not the first time Liu has been accused of it. An indictment advice issued by the Suining public security bureau points to articles Liu wrote between April 2009 and February last year that were posted on overseas Chinese pro-democracy websites. Liu was the author of articles that “libelled” the Communist party’s leadership as “autocratic rule” and “on many occasions incited others to subvert the country’s state power and socialist system”, the police notice said, according Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a China-based rights group. In the articles, Liu allegedly also urged the Chinese to “create a strong opposition organisation”, and advocated large street protests, among other things, the advice said. “Liu’s harsh sentence is part of the Chinese government’s growing intolerance towards human rights activism, as reflected in the continued and widespread crackdown on activists following the online call for a ‘jasmine revolution,’” said the group’s research co-ordinator, Wang Songlian. Activists in Sichuan province and elsewhere reported being taken away by police to prevent them from attending Liu’s trial while others were warned against trying to go, Wang said. Liu was a founding member of the China Democracy party and was convicted in 1999 of subversion of state power and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was released in November 2008. After his release, Liu continued to be involved in several high-profile human rights activities, his wife said. He was a signatory to the Charter 08 manifesto, which called for an end to single-party rule and advocated democratic political reforms. Chinese authorities have harassed supporters of Charter 08, and co-author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced in December 2009 to 11 years in prison for incitement to subvert state power. Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel peace prize last year for his democracy activism, an honour that China condemned. Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xianbin are not related. China Liu Xiaobo Human rights Protest guardian.co.uk
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