The grooming-gangs scandal is a stain on the British state

MOHAMMED ZAHID ran a clothes stall in Rochdale market, and a grooming gang. He employed vulnerable girls, offering them gifts of alcohol and underwear, and targeted others when they came to buy tights for school. Along with his friends, who included other Pakistan-born stallholders and taxi drivers, Mr Zahid then treated the children as sex slaves, raping and abusing them in shops, warehouses and on nearby moors. Among his victims were two 13-year-old girls. One was in care; both were known to social services and the police. On June 13th, almost 25 years after the abuse began, Mr Zahid and six others were convicted of 30 counts of rape.

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Daily Mirror

14 hours ago

• Daily Mirror

GP who posed as nurse to kill mum's partner with poisoned jab cut off by family

Once-respected GP Thomas Kwan was jailed for 31 years and five months in November after admitting attempted murder, he is unable to apply for parole for 20 years. A once-respected doctor who tried to kill his mum's partner while disguised as a nurse has been cut off by his own family, it has been revealed. Thomas Kwan has been ostracised by his own family after trying to kill his mum's partner with a poison 'Covid jab' while disguised as a nurse. The once respected doctor disguised himself in a wooly hat, tinted glasses and surgical mask to administer a fake Covid jab to his mum's partner. In reality, it contained the highly toxic iodomethane, a fumigant pesticide. Thomas Kwan was jailed for 31 years and five months in November after admitting attempted murder. ‌ ‌ "His relationship with his brothers and sisters has been severed for years," said a source close to the case. "His mother has disowned him." Kwan is also facing potential legal action to confiscate his near £1m NHS pension, which will devastate his finances. Only his Chinese-born wife is still standing by him. His victim Patrick O'Hara, 72, still suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to his horrific ordeal on January 22 last year, Newcastle crown court heard. On that day, Kwan travelled from his £500,000 property in Ingleby Barwick, to his mum Jenny Leung's home. Kwan's mother had taken £1m out of a joint back account before she divorced Kwan's late father, who died around 30 years ago, aged 60, while Kwan was studying at Newcastle University. Kwan considered that he had not been fairly treated with his father's will as he did not receive the greatest share of his estate, which he felt was 'his right'. His mother had updated her will to allow Patrick to live in her home in St Thomas St, Newcastle in the event of her death, delaying Kwan's inheritance, with Kwan plotting to kill Patrick to get his hands on his mum's inheritence. Kwan arranged an appointment in advance using fake NHS letterheads to give Patrick a 'Covid jab', which was actually laced with poison. It was later revealed that Kwan experimented with a series of noxious substances, including ingredients to make ricin, in his garage after the row over his mum's will. ‌ The court had heard Kwan became "obsessed" with ricin, arsenic, cyanide, and nerve agents. He had "10 poisons used to kill people" among guides found after the attack. He told how Kwan sent Mr O'Hara two bogus NHS letters from a "community nurse" called Raj Patel, one of Kwan's former colleagues, and even produced a fake ID in a wig, moustache, specs and goatee beard. There, he injected Patrick with the lethan concoction, with Patrick later asking his GP about the jab after the injection site became inflamed. He was sent home with antibiotics, but his condition worsened and he was rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis, a life-threatening flesh-eating disease. Patrick was kept in intensive care and had to have skin on his left arm and shoulder removed due to the flesh eating bug. Five days after the attack, Patrick received another NHS-style letter detailing the results of his blood tests before the jab was given, the jury heard. A package meant for Patrick was then intercepted by police containing over-the-counter iron supplements which the prosecution say had been sent by the defendant. Detectives also interviewed him just days after the attack. ‌ Patrick became suspicious after Jenny made a comment about the nurse being "about the same height" as her son. Sentencing Kwan to 31 years and five months behind bars, Mrs Justice Lambert tol Kwan: "Your intention of visiting the home was to administer a lethal injection of poison to Mr O'Hara on the pretence of administering a Covid booster. It was an audacious plan to murder a man in plain sight and you very nearly succeeded in your objection. "You were in the home of Mr O'Hara for 40 minutes and for some part of that your mother was also present and you took her blood pressure. Extraordinary though it seems, so trusting were they that neither recognised you under your disguise." ‌ Justice Lambert said financial gain was the motive behind the attempted killing and added: "You were certainly obsessed by money and more particularly by money which you considered yourself to be entitled. I have no doubt that the reason why you tried to kill Mr O'Hara was for financial gain. "You knew your mother had left the house to her children but you also knew she had changed her will to give Mr O'Hara a life interest in the house. By killing him you removed the obstacle which lay between you and your recovery of your share of the property following your mother's death." Patrick has separated from Kwan's mother, Jenny, after the ordeal, with Jenny now having disowned her son. After he was jailed in November, Kwan's wife told the Mirror that she did not believe that her husband intended to kill. She added: "In his heart he is very, very good. I don't blame him. I love him, trust him, and will be here for him until the end." Kwan is currenty serving his sentence and will be unable to apply for parole for 20 years.

Metro

18 hours ago

• Metro

Russian tech billionaire Pavel Durov claims to have over 100 children

A Russian-born billionaire has claimed to have fathered more than 100 children, and said they will all share his £10,000,000,000 fortune. Pavel Durov, 40, became a billionaire after creating the messaging app Telegram, but has now told French media that despite being the 'official father' of six, he has more than 100 others. He said he began donating sperm 15 years ago to help a friend, who revealed more than 100 babies were conceived by him in 12 countries. 'They are all my children and will all have the same rights! I don't want them to tear each other apart after my death,' he told Le Point. His plethora of children might be promised part of his fortune, but they won't be able to access it for 30 years, he added. 'I want them to live like normal people, to build themselves up alone, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create, not to be dependent on a bank account,' Durov added. Pavel Durov was born to Russian parents in St Petersburg on October 10, 1984. He attended St Petersburg State University before creating 'Russian Facebook'. Durov founded the so-called Russian Facebook – named VK – as well as Telegram messenger, which is used for communications by both sides in the Ukrainian war. Durov left Russia in 2014, just a year after setting up the encrypted messaging app with his brother, due to pressure from Russian security services. Durov's fortune is estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion. He's been living in self-imposed exile since 2014, basing himself out of Dubai, France, St Kitts, and other countries. Durov made headlines last year when he was banned from leaving France after he was charged with allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app Telegram. More Trending It was alleged that Pavel Durov's platform is used for child sex abuse material and drug trafficking, and that Telegram refused to cooperate with investigators when legally required. One investigator told AFP they were surprised Durov entered France despite the warrant against him, adding 'enough of Telegram's impunity'. Russia, however, has branded the arrest as politically motivated and proof of a double standard on freedom of speech in the West. But this has raised some eyebrows, given that Russian authorities have tried to ban Telegram, and Durov has been in self-imposed exile since 2014 due to conflicts with the Russian government. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Russia 'upgrades' its nuclear sites closest to the UK MORE: All 9 countries on the UK Foreign Office 'no go' travel list MORE: Putin's dirty new war tactic revealed in grim photos

Daily Mail​

19 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

Dutch footballer Quincy Promes 'extradited to the Netherlands to serve over SEVEN YEARS in prison' for drug trafficking and stabbing brother - but taxpayers 'have to pay for the flight!'

Dutch footballer Quincy Promes has reportedly been extradited back to the Netherlands to serve a seven-and-a-half year sentence for drug trafficking and aggravated assault. Promes has been playing his football in Dubai but was seized by the authorities after a request by the Dutch police. The former Ajax and Netherlands star, 33, was hit with a six-year jail sentence in February 2024 after being convicted of helping to smuggle cocaine into his homeland from Belgium in 2020. That followed an 18-month sentence for stabbing his cousin, but he has been absent from the Netherlands and therefore not served any time. Dutch outlet De Telegraaf reports that Promes begins his sentence in a detention centre after being flown back in a chartered plane. His plane cost almost £86,000 to the taxpayer after it was demeed there were 'safety risks' in putting him on a public flight. Premier League giants such as Liverpool and Arsenal were linked years ago with a move for Promes, who has won trophies in the Netherlands and Russia and earned 50 caps for his country. The earliest Promes will be released is in 2030 if his sentences are upheld wth parole, reports De Telegraaf. The Amsterdam court ruled last year that Promes had been directly involved in smuggling 1,360 kilograms of cocaine to the Netherlands or Belgium in two shipments in 2020. Promes denied the charges but the court found there was enough evidence from two eyewitnesses and intercepted phone conversations to hand down a prison term. Meanwhile, in the incident with his brother, the stabbing to the leg occurred at a family party at a warehouse in Abcoude after Promes got into an argument over a stolen necklace. He was playing in the Netherlands for Ajax at the time but moved to Spartak in February 2021. The judge criticised Promes, who is currently in Russia, for not coming to the court to defend himself or expressing any remorse. His sentence would have been six months less had he done so. Podcast All episodes Play on Apple Spotify The Dutch authorities have not been able to lock him up due to the fact he has been playing in Russia and Dubai until now. The Amsterdam-born forward played 50 times for the Dutch national team, scoring seven goals. Starting his career at Twente, he had a four-year stint with Spartak between 2014 and 2018 before signing for Spanish club Sevilla. From there, he spent a season-and-a-half with Ajax before returning to Spartak. He has scored 37 goals in 74 games for the club during his second spell. He joined second-tier Dubai United for last season and scored 19 goals in 20 appearances.