Merseyside dismisses Matrix squad constables over picture of them fooling around during raid on suspect’s home Five police officers from a force’s elite gun crime unit have been sacked after a photograph emerged of them “behaving inappropriately” inside a house they were supposed to be searching. Merseyside police said the five constables had been dismissed from the force, without notice, having been found guilty of gross misconduct after the picture came to light during a professional standards investigation earlier in the year. All five worked within the Matrix team – which tackles gun and gang violence in the Liverpool area – and played a major role in targeting those linked to the murder in 2007 of the 11-year-old Rhys Jones. The photograph shows the constables fooling around during a raid on a suspect’s home and posing for a picture on a mobile phone. It was discovered during an inquiry by the force’s professional standards department while it was investigating separate allegations that some Matrix officers had been taking items from raided homes and selling them on eBay. The inquiry has already led to the sacking of one sergeant from the team and the investigation into claims items were sold on eBay is continuing. Deputy Chief Constable Bernard Lawson said: “We expect the highest standards from our officers and these officers fell far short of that expectation. “Our residents and communities have the right to expect our officers to act professionally and with integrity at all times so that they can have confidence in the work that we do.” In May Sergeant Charles Tennant, 43, of the Matrix unit appeared before a fast-track disciplinary panel and was sacked for gross misconduct over the photo. Tennant and two constables remain on police bail in relation to the eBay probe. Lawson said: “As a force we believe it is important to take swift and decisive action when officers are found to have fallen short of the standards we expect and in this case we have done just that. “We are proud that over the past three years we have seen such significant falls in crime within Merseyside, particularly the 26% drop in gun crime. “That is in no small part down to the good work of the Matrix team. They do a difficult and demanding job but we are quite clear: high standards are non-negotiable.” Lawson said the overwhelming majority of Matrix officers were a credit to the force. “We are very proud to have them work for us,” he said. “I am disappointed that the actions of this small minority of officers has had a disproportionate impact on public confidence and our community relations. “I hope, by taking the action we have, that our communities can be confident in our commitment to high standards of conduct and our continuing determination to fight crime in Merseyside.” Matrix leads Merseyside police’s fight against drug-related gun and gang crime, which has blighted the Liverpool region. Police Liverpool Gun crime Sandra Laville guardian.co.uk
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Conviction of Jaggu Pehelwan could be hindered by lack of willing witnesses, says arresting officer An alleged contract killer believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 150 people has been arrested in India following a manhunt lasting more than a decade. Jaggu Pehelwan was detained by armed police in the city of Ghaziabad, in the poor and lawless northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on Monday night. Five shots were fired during his arrest but no one was hurt. Pehelwan, the leader of one of the most notorious criminal gangs in the city, has been formally charged with 30 murders over a 15-year criminal career and police believe he is responsible for around 130 more. Victims have included his own gang members suspected of disloyalty, rival criminals and scores of others, whom Pehelwan is accused of killing for cash. “Though he is officially wanted for 100 murder cases, he is suspected of killing nearly 165 people,” Anil Kaparwan, the police officer who arrested the fugitive, told local reporters. The case has revealed the deep problems of India’s law enforcement and justice system, where criminals routinely intimidate or bribe witnesses and judges. Kaparwan said that obtaining a conviction and getting his detainee imprisoned could be difficult. “There are hardly any witnesses [prepared to testify] against him,” he told the Mail Today newspaper. Pehelwan charged between £12,500 and £32,500 to kill, officials said, and had recently done a deal for two dozen murders for £200,000. Targets included a telecoms operator, a building contractor and a local party activist. He comes from a village near Ghaziabad and is believed to be in his mid-30s. He reportedly committed his first contract killing in 1998. The victim was a businessman in Delhi. Pehelwan is accused of murdering a hotel owner in 2003 and two property developers and a transport contractor in 2008. Last month he is alleged to have killed a local councillor in his neighbourhood. Officials said those who had commissioned the killings would now be tracked down and brought to justice. Pehelwan ranged over hundreds of miles in the north-west, but his base remained Ghaziabad. Like many wealthy criminals in India, he apparently hoped to use his riches to move into politics, a favoured means of laundering earnings, bolstering power and accessing lucrative contracts. His wife was elected – unopposed – as head of his local council. Pehelwan himself was reported to have hoped to stand in local state elections next year. India Organised crime Jason Burke guardian.co.uk
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Report shows 56 universities expect to be teaching fewer undergraduates once tuition fees rise More than half of England’s universities expect to be teaching fewer undergraduates next year when tuition fees rise to up to £9,000 per year, a report has revealed. The Higher Education Funding Council for England, which distributes money to universities on behalf of the government, requested institutions’ financial forecasts for the next three years. Its analysis shows 56 universities are anticipating a drop in the number of full-time undergraduates they take from the UK or the European Union next year. On average, universities expect a 2% fall, but one institution predicts a 20% drop and five others foresee decreases of more than 10%. Just under a quarter – 24% – expect an increase and a fifth anticipate no change. MPs voted in December to raise tuition fees for full-time undergraduates from £3,350 a year to up to £9,000 from the autumn of 2012. More than a third of English universities will charge £9,000 as their standard fee. The estimated average fee is £8,393, far higher than the government predicted, but this drops to £8,161 when fee waivers for less well-off students are included. The report reveals that universities expect the number of students from outside the UK and the EU to rise between 3% and 6%. A dozen universities expect their income from overseas students’ fees to go up by more than 100% in real terms between 2009-10 and 2013-14. Of these, three anticipate a more than 200% rise. But the funding council warns that the sector continues to operate on “very fine margins” which make insitutions vulnerable to “small changes”. It says universities will be in a “financially sustainable position” in the medium term, but some “will need to generate better financial results in the longer term”. No universities are close to risk of insolvency, it says. It warns universities not to rely too heavily on predictions of student demand and says that the main financial strength of the sector “remains in a small number of institutions”. “There is no certainty over the likely level of student numbers in the future,” it says. “We are aware that institutions have developed contingency plans to deal with changes in income.” Nigel Seaton, senior deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Surrey, said his institution and others were concerned that the government should fund higher education sufficiently, particularly at a time of change. He said that while English universities were good at recruiting overseas students, they would have to do something “very special” to achieve a rise in their income of 100% or more. He said universities were increasingly operating abroad. “Our model is a joint venture in China. That is another way to increase overseas income,” he said. Students Higher education Tuition fees Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A Baptist minister who was declared dead says he “saw heaven” during that time and details meeting dead loved ones, smelling aromas he had never experience before and hearing music “beyond spectacular.” It was the “most real thing that ever happened to me,” Pastor Don Piper tells ABC News . Piper…
Continue reading …The Pentagon can’t tighten its belt any further without putting America in danger, Leon Panetta warns. The defense secretary says major cuts beyond the $350 billion outlined in the debt ceiling deal are “completely unacceptable” and could do “real damage ” to national security, the New York Times reports. The deal…
Continue reading …Missouri has passed a law barring private Facebook messages between children and teachers, and lots of people aren’t happy about it. The first law of its kind in the nation will still allow messages easily viewed by the school community between teachers and children concerning assignments, but all exclusive one-on-one…
Continue reading …Life apparently isn’t so, so perfect in Gwyneth Paltrow land. The super-mom actress who cooks a mean organic dinner, shoves it down other people’s throats in her healthier-than-thou blog , then launches a new singing career, has found marriage to Cold Play’s Chris Martin isn’t “all rosy.” Sometimes it’s “hard being…
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University urges students and employees to stay inside and secure doors after sighting near scene of 2007 massacre Virginia Tech, the site of the 2007 mass shooting that killed 33 people, is in lockdown after reports of a man armed with a handgun on campus. The university issued an alert on its website at 9.37am telling students and employees to stay inside and secure doors. The alert said the gunman was reported near Dietrick Hall, a three-storey refectory building yards from the dorm where the first shootings took place in the 2007 attack by Seung-Hui Cho. Virgina Tech said that at 9.09am three young people attending a camp at the university reported seeing a white man with “what may have been a handgun”. The man was described as 6ft, with light brown hair, a blue and white vertically striped shirt, grey shorts and brown sandals. The report said he had no facial hair or glasses. The reported weapon was covered by a cloth or covering of some sort. The man was reported near New Residence Hall East, walking quickly in the direction of volleyball courts. Staff and agencies responded immediately but found no one matching the description. United States Virginia Tech shooting guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …At the Duck and Cover bar at America’s embassy in Kabul, cats are a contentious topic, the Washington Post finds. Some 30 semi-feral cats roam the embassy grounds and some staffers are fiercely resisting plans to exterminate them to prevent rabies. The embassy “cat committee” has been told that diplomats…
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