Five men deny Walsall murder of Mohammed Khan
Five men have denied murdering a 22-year-old man who suffered fatal knife wounds.Mohammed Khan died in hospital after being stabbed on Bloxwich Road, Walsall, on 17 March.Iftakhar Ahmed, 52, Asad Iftakhar, 27, and Hassan Iftakhar 33, all of Bloxwich Road, and Amaan Khan, 21, and Zain Raja, 22, from Bloxwich, near Walsall, appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court, where they each pleaded not guilty to murder.A trial date is yet to be set.
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The Independent
16 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hope for end to ‘cruel experiment' of indefinite jail terms that have seen phone thieves trapped for up to 20 years
Desperate prisoners who have been trapped in jail for up to 20 years for minor offences such as stealing a mobile phone could finally get a release date under landmark new proposals. Britain's leading justice experts have issued a string of recommendations to finally end the 'cruel experiment' of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) jail terms, which have left inmates languishing in prison for up to 22 times longer than their original sentence. A panel led by Lord John Thomas, who was once Britain's most senior judge, convened by the Howard League for Penal Reform, will urge the government on Monday to take 'long overdue' action to restore hope to 2,614 inmates still trapped under the outlawed jail terms, which have been described as a 'monstrous blot' on our justice system. IPP jail terms were abolished in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving those already jailed incarcerated indefinitely. Victims of the scandal, whose tragic cases have been highlighted by The Independent, include Leroy Douglas, who has served almost 20 years for stealing a mobile phone; Thomas White, 42, who set himself alight in his cell and has served 13 years for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleman, 41, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery. Successive governments have refused justice committee recommendations to resentence them, despite recognising the jail term was a mistake. At least 94 IPP prisoners have taken their lives in custody as they lost hope of being freed, with a further 37 self-inflicted deaths among those released but left living in fear of being hauled back to jail indefinitely for minor breaches of strict licence conditions. On Monday, the expert panel will set out six recommendations to the Ministry of Justice to finally give those languishing in prison a release date and end the cycle of recall. Lord Thomas told The Independent: 'We must not go on perpetuating this injustice.' The proposals would see: Every IPP prisoner given a release date at their next review by the Parole Board within a two-year window, with plans to prepare them to be safely freed Decisions to recall IPP prisoners only made as a last resort, with independent scrutiny by a district judge or senior parole board member Mental health aftercare support for every released IPP prisoner, in recognition of the harms caused by the sentence The government has said ministers will 'carefully consider' the recommendations. In the 25-page report, due to be presented at an event in parliament, Lord Thomas warns: 'It is long overdue for those whose lives continue to be blighted by this sentence to be released from its clutches. 'There are only two options given the government's rejection of resentencing: (1) do nothing new and let those subject to IPPs continue with the real risk that many will languish in prison until they die; or (2) adopt our proposals. 'Our proposals provide a route to ending this grave injustice while protecting the public.' The member of the House of Lords, who served as lord chief justice from 2013 to 2017, believes the 'practical solutions' could be the last chance to help those on the jail term, which has been condemned as 'psychological torture' by the UN. Despite agreeing that the sentences are a 'terrible stain', Labour's prisons minister James Timpson has repeatedly said the government will not resentence IPP prisoners because it would result in serious offenders being released automatically without licensed supervision. Instead, the government has urged prisoners to work towards release by the Parole Board through the refreshed IPP Action Plan. However, Lord Thomas believes the measure is 'not enough' and it will leave some desperate inmates stuck in prison for the rest of their lives. He said it is 'absolutely clear' that without action, many will resign themselves to lifelong institutionalisation or take their own lives. Urging the state to take responsibility for its own mistakes, he insisted 'enough is enough', noting that if these prisoners had committed their crime a day after the sentence was abolished, they would have long been freed. 'It is time to address this problem in the way we have set out, which produces justice and minimises risk as much as possible,' added the judge, who last year backed The Independent's campaign to review IPP sentences. Andrea Coomber KC, chief executive of the Howard League, described the jail term as a 'cruel experiment' that has been perpetrated upon these prisoners by accident. Even the architect of the flawed 99-year sentence, Labour's former home secretary David Blunkett, has described it as the 'biggest regret' of his career. 'I spend a lot of time visiting people in prisons, I have met people who aren't engaged in IPP forums, who have given up hope,' Ms Coomber told The Independent. 'They have settled into the idea that they are going to die in prison. That is a monstrous blot on our justice system that people would feel that justice has let them down that much.' By ensuring they would get a release date, those prisoners would re-engage with the Parole Board and the steps for their rehabilitation, she added. 'Fundamentally, it will be a way to restore hope to people who have lost all hope, while protecting the public,' she said. It will also have the 'happy side effect' of freeing up a lot of prison places as the government grapples with an overcrowding crisis, she added. In April, The Independent revealed that incarcerating IPP inmates cost taxpayers £145m in 2024, on top of an estimated £1.6bn spent since the sentence was abolished. Any cost to implementing the changes would be 'more than covered' by the savings of releasing them, the report said. Other proposals from the panel, which also comprised a retired High Court judge and vice-chair of the Parole Board, leading forensic psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, legal experts and a former IPP prisoner, would see those handed indeterminate sentences when they were children (known as DPP jail terms) given a release date within one year of their parole review. They have also called for an enhanced process for people to appeal their IPP sentence, the right for annual licence termination reviews in the community and the ability for IPP jail terms to become 'spent' after an appropriate period. Currently, those who serve an IPP sentence must disclose information about their conviction for life, which can be 'hugely stigmatising' as they try to rebuild their lives and find work, Ms Coomber said. Campaigner Shirley DeBono, whose son Shaun Lloyd has spent 14 years behind bars after multiple recalls for stealing a mobile phone in 2005, welcomed the proposed measures. 'I think it's a great idea. I urge Shabana Mahmood [justice secretary] and James Timpson to take the proposals on,' said the mother, who co-founded the IPP Committee in Action. A spokesperson for the United Group for Reform of IPP (Ungripp) said that while it will always push for a full resentencing process, it supports the measures. 'We hope that the government will seriously consider these alternatives and give back some hope to those who are in prison either on recall or who have never been released,' they added. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'It is right that IPP sentences were abolished, and we will carefully consider the recommendations in this report. 'We are determined to make progress towards safe and sustainable releases for those in prison, but not in any way that undermines public protection.'
Times
20 minutes ago
- Times
Cost of damage by Palestine Action could hit £55m
Activists from Palestine Action are feared to have cost the government and firms making equipment for the British military as much as £55 million. In a five-year campaign Palestine Action has conducted 356 attacks on sites across the UK, culminating in a raid on RAF Brize Norton last week in which two Voyager aircraft were damaged. The attacks have cost the defence industry at least £30 million, according to evidence submitted to the government by several firms that have been affected. But it is also feared that one engine of a plane attacked at Brize Norton is damaged beyond repair and could cost £25 million to replace. While the extent of the damage is still being investigated, it is feared that red paint sprayed in to the turbine of the engine may mean it cannot be safely used again. Other costs are believed to cover repairs to warehouses, research facilities and factories, lost working time from the disruption, and the extra security the firms have been forced to invest in to ward off criminal activity by Palestine Action. The firms have also warned the Ministry of Defence that the group's activities have now extended to smaller firms in their supply chains, which will struggle to afford extra security and repairs. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is set to proscribe Palestine Action on Monday, but an influential group of peers wants the law toughened to make it easier for the police to stop all kinds of 'organisations which cause destruction'. There have been growing concerns about the ability of the police to combat extreme protest groups such as Palestine Action. Lord Walney, the government's former extremism adviser, will table an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords, to give the police more powers to stop the activities of groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Youth Demand. An investigation by The Sunday Times in March revealed how activists had switched between protest groups which were also sharing tactics. If implemented the new law would restrict a group's ability to fundraise and its right to assembly in the UK. It could stop them posting on social media and live-streaming actions that they take. An extreme protest group would be defined as an organisation which routinely uses criminal tactics to try to achieve its aims. Although Palestine Action will be proscribed under existing terror laws, Walney's peers believe a new legal mechanism is required to tackle extreme political, environmental and animal rights groups 'who fall just below the threshold of being terrorist organisations'. His 'criminal protest proscription' amendment would represent a major overhaul in how such groups are policed in the UK. Walney plans to table the amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which has reached the House of Lords, in coming weeks. 'The police need new powers to be able to tackle and disrupt extreme protest groups like Palestine Action, who have been allowed to cause mayhem and destruction for the past five years,' Walney said. 'Many of these groups fall just below the threshold required to be considered a terrorist organisation. We need a new mechanism to help police disrupt these extreme protests which are causing real harm to hundreds of businesses across the country.' • Melanie Phillips: Palestine Action is a terrorist group, so ban it His proposal is expected to have support from up to 42 peers who have this weekend signed a letter sent to Cooper asking for a meeting to discuss how to 'prevent or disrupt further attacks'. The letter, signed by peers including Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale, a former assistant head of MI6; Baroness Berger, a prominent Jewish peer; Lord Evans of Sealand, a former Labour general secretary; and Lord Cryer, the former chairman of the parliamentary Labour party, says that Palestine Action has been allowed to carry out a 'sustained aggressive broad campaign that undermines the rule of law and Britain's national security'. Research by The Sunday Times reveals there have been 356 direct actions on British-based defence and engineering firms, banks, insurance companies, estate agents and property companies, accountancy firms, universities and local government buildings owing to alleged links to Israel. Some 118 Palestine Action activists were convicted of criminal offences between 2020 and 2024 for attacks on British-based companies linked to Israel, with 33 found not guilty of offences at trial. There are 17 trials continuing relating to direct action protests by Palestine Action. John Healey, the defence secretary, said he was 'really disturbed' by the breach of RAF Brize Norton and has ordered an investigation and wider security review. Counterterrorism police officers are investigating the incident, with Thames Valley police and the Ministry of Defence police. A Palestine Action spokesman said: 'Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spyplanes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets.'
The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Suspect in ‘No Kings' rally shooting death in Utah released from jail
A man jailed on suspicion of murder for allegedly brandishing a rifle at a 'No Kings' rally in Utah before an armed safety volunteer fired and inadvertently killed a protester has been released from custody. Local district attorney Sim Gill's office said on Friday that it was unable to make a decision on charges against Arturo Gamboa after the 14 June shooting that killed demonstrator Arthur Folasa Ah Loo – but that the investigation into the slaying continues. Salt Lake City police had said Gamboa brought an assault-style rifle to the rally and was allegedly moving toward the crowd with the weapon raised when a safety volunteer for the event fired three shots, wounding Gamboa and killing Ah Loo nearby. Gamboa did not fire his rifle, and it is unclear what he intended to do with it. His father, Albert Gamboa, told the Associated Press since the shooting that his son was 'an innocent guy' who was 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'. Utah is an open-carry state, meaning people who can legally own a firearm are generally allowed to carry it on a public street. The volunteer has not been publicly identified as investigators work to determine who was at fault. Judge James Blanch said in the release order that Gamboa must live with his father and is forbidden from possessing firearms. The conditions terminate after two months or if criminal charges against him are pursued, Blanch wrote. Gamboa's attorney, Greg Skordas, did not immediately respond to a telephone message left for him seeking comment. Police said the day after the shooting that witnesses reported seeing Gamboa lift the rifle when he was ordered to drop it – and that instead he began running toward the crowd. He fled but was arrested nearby, accused of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo's death. Salt Lake City police said in a statement the next day that Gamboa 'knowingly engaged in conduct … that ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member'. But three days after Gamboa was booked into jail, with no formal charges filed, police acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding the shooting remained uncertain. They issued a public appeal for any video footage related to the shooting or Gamboa and said detectives were still trying 'to piece together exactly what happened'. The volunteer who confronted Gamboa was described by event organizers as a military veteran whose role as a safety volunteer was to maintain order. Experts say it's extremely rare for such individuals, often called safety marshals, to be armed. They typically rely on calm demeanor, communication, and relationships with police and protesters to help keep order, said Edward Maguire, an Arizona State University criminology and criminal justice professor. Police said the permit for the protest did not specify that there would be armed security. Protest organizers have not said whether or how the safety volunteer who shot Ah Loo was trained or explained why he was armed. All attendees, including those in safety roles, were asked not to bring weapons, according to Sarah Parker, a national coordinator for the 50501 Movement. Parker's organization on Thursday said it was dissociating itself from a local chapter of the group that helped organize the Utah protest. The demonstration involving about 18,000 people was otherwise peaceful. It was one of hundreds nationwide against Donald Trump's military parade in Washington, which marked the US army's 250th anniversary and coincided with the president's birthday.
