Latest news with #MinistryofSound
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Opioid ‘hundred times stronger than heroin' linked to UK clubbing deaths for first time
Two people in their twenties have died in London after allegedly consuming a super-strong opioid drug, the first that experts have linked in the UK to the new substance. Warned that they can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin, nitazenes are a newer form of synthetic opioid and can be mis-sold as drugs including oxycodone, which is a highly addictive prescription drug used to treat pain. A 20-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man are understood to have taken the drug after visiting a club in south London over the May bank holiday weekend. The blue tablets, which are marked with the number 80, could potentially be mistaken for 'oxys', which can help users fall asleep. In a statement on their social media page, the nightclub Ministry of Sound in Elephant and Castle said: 'We have been informed of a dangerous batch of blue-green pills marked with '80' are being sold across London. 'These pills have been linked to hospitalisations and tragically two confirmed fatalities. 'Reports indicate they contain synthetic opioids, along with traces of ketamine and MDMA. They are being mis-sold as Ecstasy or Oxycodone, and investigations are ongoing.' They encouraged anyone who was feeling unwell while at the venue to seek medical help immediately from their on-site team. The Cause, in east London, and Fabric, in Farringdon, also posted similar messages warning people of the risks of consuming the drug. It has prompted fears ahead of festival season, with increased calls for front-of-house drug testing. Speaking to The Times, Professor Fiona Measham, the founder of drug checking charity The Loop, said: 'Up to now, there have been about two nitazene-related deaths per week in the UK, predominantly linked to contamination of opiate and street benzodiazepine markets,. 'This appears to be a leap from dependent to recreational drug using communities with the deaths of two clubbers but we don't yet know the purchase intent. If we did, we could target the appropriate groups looking to buy, for example, oxycodone or ecstasy pills.' The Home Office said: 'Every death from drugs is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the two individuals who have sadly lost their lives. 'We are determined to take steps to prevent drug-related deaths and we support the testing of drugs seized by the police or deposited in amnesty bins, but we cannot endorse testing for recreational users because there is no safe way to take illegal drugs. 'We are doing everything we can to tackle the evolving threat from synthetic opioids such as nitazenes, including working closely with the police to increase the number of officers carrying the opioid overdose antidote naloxone.' The Metropolitan Police said: 'We are currently investigating the death of two people at a residential address in Havelock Road, Southall. 'Met officers were called on Monday, 26 May at 16:00hrs following reports that a 20-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man had been found unresponsive. 'Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service attended the scene where both people were sadly pronounced dead. The deaths are being treated as unexpected and an investigation remains ongoing. 'Post-mortem examinations have been carried out and we await the results of toxicology findings. 'Next of kin for both the man and the woman have been informed, they are currently being supported by specialist officers.'
The National
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
DJ and jazz artist Rebecca Vasmant on 10 things that changed her life
1. The Stan Tracey Quartet GOING from collecting house and techno into jazz from the day that I heard a track called The Stan Tracey Quartet - Starless and Bible Black. From the day that I first heard that song until the rest of my life, it's completely changed the trajectory of it, and I've gone into embracing this passion for jazz, and it's changed my career, it's changed my life, it's changed my mental health. Because listening to down-tempo jazz really helps my mindset, it's changed everything. 2. Horses I DECIDED that I was going to try and do some things that I did in my childhood that I stopped doing in my childhood, and kind of rediscover my childhood self. One of those things was getting back into being around horses. It has made me really calm and centered, and happy. READ MORE: Scottish director's film set during Highland Clearances takes Cannes by storm It's allowed me to feel really free and like riding around the countryside on the back of horses, and kind of work in unison with this massive being that could, at any point, just kill you, but they don't, because you form this amazing relationship with them. I think it really symbolises how I like to be as a person in the world. Showing people mutual respect and just being grateful for other people and nature. 3. Ibiza WHEN I was in my early twenties, I went and did my first ever DJ season in Ibiza. It changed my life massively because, number one, it taught me how to DJ to crowds, and it also made me see that I really knew what I wanted to do with my life, even at an early age. Doing those seasons in Ibiza, DJing, doing residencies and gaining independence, living in another culture. I made sure that I had Spanish friends and didn't just surround myself with British people. 4. Ministry of Sound GETTING my World Tours residency at Ministry of Sound just after Ibiza, I must have still been 22. I got a residency where, pretty much overnight, I was flying all over the world and doing this residency for the brand. I just went from being quite a nervous young person who was quite scared to go places on their own, into getting on planes to do multi-city tours of India, and I went all over the world. I think that changed my perception of myself in the sense that I was a strong, independent person, and I could just do things on my own. 5. Own Place PROBABLY getting my own place and not flat sharing because, in my late 30s, up until that point, I'd always been met with limitations of sharing your space and not being able to make noise. I think for the first time ever, I was able to be creatively free and living on my own. 6. Paris I WENT to DJ in Paris one night, and I met my core group of lifelong friends that I have in Paris to this day. I just feel like you sometimes get these nights where you don't realise at the time that you're going to look back on as it changed everything, but that night really did change everything. My dad lives in Paris because I'm half French, so I'm in Paris quite a lot and that [night] gave me a group of friends, a music network, multiple DJ residences, and a family in Paris that I never had before. 7. MacBook Pro I WENT from not having the means or the access to be able to make music at home, because the laptop that I was on before wouldn't run Ableton. Upgrading my laptop to a laptop, that was a second-hand one, which was good enough to run Ableton, changed my life because I then went on to teach myself how to make music. While it is a material thing, it allowed me to open so many doors for myself, and I had saved up all my twenties, and I didn't get my first MacBook Pro until I was like 31 or something. 8. Cheese Fondue THE first time I went to DJ in Switzerland at a ski festival, I tried my first cheese fondue, and oh my God, I'm now absolutely obsessed with any form of melted cheese. Sometimes food is not really that life-changing, or it's not really that deep, but cheese fondue is absolutely that deep to me. The way I cook, the way I think about food now, is just so different because of using wine in the sauce and just all these things to do with the actual food itself feels a bit spiritual when you cook in the kitchen. It made cooking exciting for me. 9. Mr Scruff THE moment that Andy, AKA Mr Scruff, asked us to play my music live. We formed the band that we now play in, and then we basically went on to do four plus years of touring and playing all over with a nine-piece jazz band, which is absolutely mental. That one phone call where he asked us to play live has definitely changed my life. 10. The Internet THE first time that we had a computer at home and we had the internet on the computer. I started to realise that there was a bigger world out there other than just the small village that I live in [Saline]. Even the concept of the internet existing and being able to speak to people in other countries and being able to send an email, because I'm old enough to remember that, that's definitely changed my life. Rebecca Vasmant will be playing at the Kelburn Garden Party on July 5.
Scottish Sun
25-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
Fury as Albanian drugs mule booted out of UK is BACK & is selling naked pics on OnlyFans & flaunting lifestyle online
Progni has refused to reveal how he got here, sparking fears he may have arrived illegally BARE FACED CHEEK Fury as Albanian drugs mule booted out of UK is BACK & is selling naked pics on OnlyFans & flaunting lifestyle online A FOREIGN drug mule who was booted out of Britain is back here after time in jail — and posing for naked snaps on an adult website. Albanian Maksim Progni fled to the UK after he was arrested in Germany trying to smuggle a kilogram of cocaine. 2 Foreign drug mule Maksim Progni has been posing for naked snaps on an adult website Credit: = 2 Progni posing in the nude on a £7.50-a-month OnlyFans page He was extradited and jailed but less than two years later he returned to Britain — where he flaunts his trips to nightclubs and restaurants online, as well as posing in the nude on a £7.50-a-month OnlyFans page. Progni, 36, has refused to reveal how he got here, sparking fears he may have arrived illegally. He is thought to be living in East London and working as a personal trainer promoting himself with pics in his underpants and just a towel on Twitter and Instagram. Progni is also trying to launch a career as an adult content creator with nude shots on OnlyFans. He has also posted pics from the VIP section of South London nightclub Ministry of Sound and a posh Canary Wharf restaurant where wine costs as much as £530 a bottle. And he boasted of spending £50 on lunch at department store Harrods. Progni was pulled over by German cops in Wachtendonk, near the Netherlands border, in April 2016. Documents obtained by The Sun reveal police found cocaine in his backpack weighing 1,048g. An official report stated: 'In one compartment, a red plastic bag containing the suspected 'sale' was found, split into two packages with a black adhesive strip labelled 'max'. 'Both packages were opened, revealing a white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine.' Killer Albanian terrorist FREE to roam UK streets in human rights fiasco because he'd be hunted by mobsters if he's deported Progni is believed to have fled to the UK soon afterwards. In 2021, his lawyers told a court in Kleve, western Germany: 'He wishes to conclude the proceedings and return to a life where he is not wanted under an arrest warrant. 'He is aware that this requires him to face the criminal proceedings in Germany.' Progni was extradited by Britain in September 2022 and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in February 2023 for importing a 'non-negligible' amount of narcotics. He was sent back to Albania in February 2024, having served just 11 months. Under German laws he was eligible to be returned home having served 40 per cent of his jail term on remand and in prison. He resurfaced in London in May last year. I've been exploited by Albanian gangs in the past. Whatever my past, I deserve to live a normal life like everyone else Progni Asked about his OnlyFans page, Progni told The Sun: 'I've been exploited by Albanian gangs in the past. Whatever my past, I deserve to live a normal life like everyone else. 'I do not work, because I am not allowed to work right now.' He declined to reveal how he had re-entered Britain and insisted he earned no money from OnlyFans. The Home Office was passed links to Progni's accounts but said it does not comment on individual cases. A spokeswoman said: 'Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free to roam Britain's streets, including removing them from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity.'
The Irish Sun
25-05-2025
- The Irish Sun
Fury as Albanian drugs mule booted out of UK is BACK & is selling naked pics on OnlyFans & flaunting lifestyle online
A FOREIGN drug mule who was booted out of Britain is back here after time in jail — and posing for naked snaps on an adult website. Albanian Maksim Progni fled to the UK after he was arrested in 2 Foreign drug mule Maksim Progni has been posing for naked snaps on an adult website Credit: = 2 Progni posing in the nude on a £7.50-a-month OnlyFans page He was extradited and jailed but less than two years later he returned to Britain — where he flaunts his trips to nightclubs and restaurants online, as well as posing in the nude on a £7.50-a-month OnlyFans page. Progni, 36, has refused to reveal how he got here, sparking fears he may have arrived illegally. He is thought to be living in East London and working as a personal trainer promoting himself with pics in his underpants and just a towel on Twitter and Instagram. Progni is also trying to launch a career as an adult content creator with nude shots on OnlyFans. READ MORE UK NEWS He has also posted pics from the VIP section of South London nightclub Ministry of Sound and a posh Canary Wharf restaurant where wine costs as much as £530 a bottle. And he boasted of spending £50 on lunch at department store Harrods. Progni was pulled over by German cops in Wachtendonk, near the Netherlands border, in April 2016. Documents obtained by The Sun reveal police found cocaine in his backpack weighing 1,048g. Most read in The Sun An official report stated: 'In one compartment, a red plastic bag containing the suspected 'sale' was found, split into two packages with a black adhesive strip labelled 'max'. 'Both packages were opened, revealing a white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine.' Killer Albanian terrorist FREE to roam UK streets in human rights fiasco because he'd be hunted by mobsters if he's deported Progni is believed to have fled to the UK soon afterwards. In 2021, his lawyers told a court in Kleve, western Germany: 'He wishes to conclude the proceedings and return to a life where he is not wanted under an arrest warrant. 'He is aware that this requires him to face the criminal proceedings in Progni was extradited by Britain in September 2022 and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in February 2023 for importing a 'non-negligible' amount of narcotics. He was sent back to Albania in February 2024, having served just 11 months. Under German laws he was eligible to be returned home having served 40 per cent of his jail term on remand and in prison. He resurfaced in London in May last year. I've been exploited by Albanian gangs in the past. Whatever my past, I deserve to live a normal life like everyone else Progni Asked about his OnlyFans page, Progni told The Sun: 'I've been exploited by Albanian gangs in the past. Whatever my past, I deserve to live a normal life like everyone else. 'I do not work, because I am not allowed to work right now.' He declined to reveal how he had re-entered Britain and insisted he earned no money from OnlyFans. The Home Office was passed links to Progni's accounts but said it does not comment on individual cases. A spokeswoman said: 'Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free to roam Britain's streets, including removing them from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity.' 'NO REASON' ASYLUM WIN AN IRAQI asylum seeker who told authorities he did not have a reason to be in the UK and asked for time to make one up won his fight to stay. The unnamed man arrived in a lorry in 2016, but his asylum claim was refused in 2019, as were two appeals. He then won the third, in Manchester, after medics agreed marks on his arm may have come from IS torture, as he had claimed. The Home Office argued he was 'not credible' after he told officials he had no reason to be here, but the panel said he could not safely go home.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
Self-proclaimed ‘monster' who fatally beat chef near carnival jailed for life
A self-proclaimed 'monster' who beat a top chef near Notting Hill Carnival and left him dying in the street has been jailed for at least 18 years. Omar Wilson, 31, repeatedly punched and kicked Mussie Imnetu during an altercation outside the Dr Power restaurant in Queensway, west London, on August 26 last year. Mr Imnetu, 41, who had worked under chefs Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing, was said to have been 'heavily intoxicated' at the time of the incident and died in hospital four days later. During his Old Bailey trial for murder, Wilson claimed he acted in self-defence, telling jurors: 'I just regret that somebody's life was taken while I was trying to defend mine.' Sentencing the defendant for life with a minimum term of 18 years, Judge Philip Katz said: 'Mussie and those who loved him are the victims in this case and the impact on them of his murder has been severe. 'His brutal death on the street was captured on CCTV. The footage was deeply shocking to watch. 'Mussie was defenceless on the ground when you punched and kicked him to death. 'It needs to be clearly understood that unlawful street violence of this sort impacts on the confidence of members of the public to go out and enjoy themselves. The culpability of those involved in such brazen conduct is significantly raised.' He continued: 'You could not control your temper. Only a few seconds after punches were aimed by both of you you tripped Mussie and he fell to the ground and you could have walked away. 'As he knelt you rained further punches down on his head. You could have walked away. 'However, you stood up, raised your leg and kicked him hard to the head. Kicking someone to the head when they are defenceless on the ground is abhorrent.' Mr Imnetu's wife, Linda, described her husband as 'respected, admired and loved' in a pre-recorded victim impact statement played in court. 'Mussie didn't just leave behind a legacy for his family, he left an indelible mark on his workplace and community,' she said. 'Nothing can undo what has been taken from us. I ask the court to remember the man Mussie was: his character, his integrity and the life he built; not just the circumstances of his passing.' A short audio recording of Mr Imnetu's six-year-old son wishing his 'daddy' goodbye was also played, which the judge called 'heart-rending'. 'I love you,' the little boy said. 'Bye bye daddy.' A group of Mr Imnetu's loved ones sat in the well of the court for the hearing, and some cried after hearing his son's recording. During the trial, the jury had been shown graphic CCTV footage showing Wilson approaching Mr Imnetu and headbutting him. About a minute later, Wilson punched Mr Imnetu five times in the head, causing him to fall to the ground. Wilson continued to punch Mr Imnetu repeatedly while he was on his hands and knees, then kicked him in the head. The defendant then left and was dropped off outside a London club – the Ministry of Sound. Mr Imnetu, who worked at The Arts Club, a private member's establishment, was taken to hospital and died four days later without regaining consciousness, jurors heard. In the aftermath of the attack, Wilson told an associate he 'crossed the line'. In a message, he admitted: 'There's a monster in me, man, and it's just like sometimes it comes out. 'And I think I've messed up now, I've messed up, everything's finished.' Asked how the carnival was going, he replied: 'Can't lie. I did the hands ting (sic) and I think it's a manslaughter,' jurors heard. Following his arrest on August 28, Wilson, of Napier Road, Leytonstone, east London, told police he had struck the victim in 'self-defence'. He claimed Mr Imnetu was behaving erratically, harassing girls, and had a bottle. Judge Katz said his evidence that he believed Mr Imnetu had with him a broken bottle was 'a deliberate lie'.
