MONSTERS ON OUR STREETS: Secret hostels where paedophiles lurk in our midst
By Keith Gladdis, Neville Thurlbeck & Matthew Acton
THE News of the World has scored a massive victory in the crusade to protect Britain's kids from sex abuse.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke yesterday pledged that all schools WILL be warned about nearby paedophile hostels.
He acted after we exposed the government's MAPPA warning system as a failure that left head teachers in the dark about predatory perverts living on their doorstep.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke yesterday ordered that every school and nursery MUST be told of paedophile hostels in their area.
He spoke out following the shock News of the World investigation detailed on these pages— which reveals many head teachers have no idea predatory sex pests are housed on their doorstep.
"Protecting the public, in particular children, is my absolute priority," declared Mr Clarke.
Schools were supposed to be given the information through Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement panels, controlled by police. But the system FAILED.
Now Mr Clarke has ordered the Probation Service to tell heads about "Approved Premises"— Home Office-vetted hostels.
Risks
He told us: "I want to make sure that if there are schools or nurseries that do not have this information we have in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure they do.
"Therefore I have today asked that all schools are made aware, with immediate effect, of the status of any Approved Premises in their vicinity. I have asked as a matter of urgency that the key agencies involved—including education and housing—are fully aware of the potential risks so that appropriate action can be taken."
Last night Sara Payne, the mother of eight-year-old Sarah who was murdered by a serial paedeophile in 2000, welcomed the move. She said: "Although it's just a first step along the way it sounds like a big step—and a brave one—in the right direction.
"Now we must make sure that Mr Clarke's promise is fulfilled."
Mrs Payne, 37, added: "Hopefully we finally have a politician who puts children and their rights first. And not the offenders." TODAY we put every parent in Britain on alert—for nests of convicted paedophiles are being planted right next to unsuspecting schools ALL OVER the country.
A shock nationwide News of the World investigation has revealed a network of official probation hostels swarming with evil sex offenders—and most are deliberately kept secret from neighbouring families and school heads.
In one disturbing case we even discovered a serial child sex monster freed early from jail and sent to a Liverpool halfway house just minutes' walk from the home of his last victim.
Our whistle-blowing evidence has sparked instant action.
Last night Home Secretary Charles Clarke ordered that schools be WARNED of sex-pest hostels in their area. And the Merseyside pervert has been MOVED.
Scandal
It's about time. For our probe exposed past government promises to protect the public as a SHAM. And their MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) system—introduced as a half-hearted response to our Sarah's Law campaign—to inform communities of monsters in their midst, was revealed as a FLOP.
In Liverpool a terrified mum wept to discover monster Anthony Knowles, who snatched her eight-year-old daughter, had won early release and been secretly moved into the Merseybank hostel near their home. The family got no warning.
After our investigators uncovered the scandal and tipped them off the mother sobbed: "Oh God, not again! I can't believe he's back and so close. I'm going to be looking over my shoulder for ever.
"My daughters are terrified he'll come back for them one day. I'm horrified."
Our camera caught Knowles, 44, prowling his old turf near the hostel—just a short walk from Faith Primary School, with three more within a mile radius.
His sickening record of repeat attacks includes assault on an 18-month-old toddler. In 2001, just 17 DAYS after release from jail to the Merseybank hostel, Knowles targeted his last victims—the eight-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy playing in the street. Promising Boyzone tickets, he grabbed their hands and marched them off but was seen by the girl's sister who raised the alarm.
Knowles got six years for attempted kidnap but was released just before Christmas. Last night the children's furious mum told us: "He should never be allowed out—he WILL do it again.
"I'm glad he's now been moved out of Merseybank. But they're just shifting a problem to someone else's community."
To test the MAPPA warning system, launched in 2001 in a fanfare of governmnet publicity, we asked the Merseybank hostel manager if he housed sex offenders. He refused to answer.
Posing as an anxious member of the public we asked the same question at nearby St Anne police station. The desk officer claimed no information was available, blaming the Data Protection Act.
We found similar horror stories and responses all over Britain. There are 100 Home Office-approved halfway hostels. But almost every inquiry to find out which ones harbour sex fiends was met with a wall of secrecy. Many police officers hadn't even heard of MAPPA.
In Bournemouth the Pines bail hostel is approved to house child molesters—close to FIVE schools. Pokesdown Primary head Vivienne Miller told us: "I didn't know about it. Thanks for letting me know."
We asked at Boscombe police station if the hostel housed dangerous paedophiles. The desk officer was evasive. She said: "There are all sorts." Could MAPPA help? "No one will tell you," she insisted. In Essex the 24-bed Basildon bail hostel houses sex offenders 200 yards from Briscoe Primary School and Nursery.
Head Diane Pilgrim said: "I wasn't even aware there was a hostel there."
At nearby Pitsea police station we asked if there were sex pests in the hostel. An acting inspector insisted: "I'm not prepared to discuss it with you."
After Charles Clarke's pledge, MAPPA MUST discuss the problem with schools.
But worried parents don't have to take it all on trust. On the right we print our cut-out guide containing the vital questions to ask to keep YOUR kids safe.
[ed: this list did not appear in the online edition]
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
IT'S JUST A LOTTERY
MONSTERS ON OUR STREETS: ALL FREED EARLY... AND THEY ALL STRUCK AGAIN
By Neville Thurlbeck
EVERY woman and girl in Britain must today be on her guard—for freed Lotto rapist Iorworth Hoare is on the prowl again.
The News of the World TWICE caught the sex beast leering at unsuspecting schoolgirls out for an innocent lunchtime stroll.
And Hoare is only one of a horde of monsters released from jail to kill, rape or maim again and again.
The shocking cases highlighted on this page all feature repeat offenders set free to destroy the lives of more victims by a justice system hopelessly skewed in the offender's favour.
Hoare—a lifelong sex offender who was sentenced to life but released after 16 years—walked A MILE out of his way to stroll past three schools, swivelling his head to lech over the giggling girls.
Stare
Now his neighbours around the upmarket Darras Hall estate in Ponteland, Northumberland, are terrified. One worried parent said last night: "He's a walking nightmare for us. We all fear he could strike at any time."
Our shock pictures show 53-year-old Hoare, who won £7million Lotto cash in jail, watching two sets of girls intently.
First he fixed them with a menacing stare as they approached him in the tree-lined streets. Then as the oblivious girls passed he turned to ogle them from behind. A neighbour who saw the entire scene told us: "There were three girls aged 14 or 15 in the first group and Hoare couldn't take his eyes off them. When they walked by he actually stopped, turned and glared at them for ages as they moved away.
"It was so blatant. He was obviously leching after them. A few minutes later he did exactly the same thing as another two girls passed. He stared at them walking off into the distance for about four seconds."
The most disturbing thing about Leeds-born Hoare's predatory prowl is the roundabout route he took from his luxury £700,000 home—to maximise his opportunities for crossing the path of teenage girls.
The neighbour told us: "He left his home at lunchtime and walked for about a mile to a cashpoint. Then he went to a baker's, bought a pie and ate it. But all the time he was very furtive as if he was looking out for someone. He then took a much longer route home which took him about a mile out of his way. I thought it was odd—but then I realised it was because he wanted to walk past THREE schools as all the girls were coming out for their midday break.
"It's an absolute scandal that people like Hoare are freed before their sentence is up and then are free to put innocent communities like us in terror."
Since being released in March last year, Hoare has changed his name to Edward Thomas and tried to disguise his appearance. The hair is now short and grey and the beard has gone.
His worried neighbour added: "He dresses as inconspicuously as possible in a country-style coat and jeans.
But we all know who he really is now and we've all told our children to keep as far away from him as they can."
The parents of Ponteland are right to be worried. Judge Richard Rougier, who sentenced Hoare to life in 1989 for brutally dragging off a 60-year-old woman in a park and trying to rape her, told him:
"Every moment you are at liberty, some woman is at risk."
And just two months ago the judge declared: "If I were a woman I wouldn't feel safe with him living near me."
Hoare has committed a series of horrendous crimes dating back over 33 years. His appalling record includes rape, three attempted rapes and three sickening assaults.
He was originally convicted of a rape bid in Leeds in June 1973 and given three years. He was only 21 when he attacked a doctor's wife in the grounds of the city's Killingbeck Hospital.
Alarm
On being freed he tried to rape again and and was jailed for four years in November 1975. But he was let out early—and still a menace to women. In September 1978 he got four more years for indecent assault.
In 1983 he pounced on a woman teacher and sexually attacked her but ran off when the alarm was raised.
A few weeks later he dragged a lone 37-year-old housewife into woods and raped her. He was sentenced to seven years.
But after being released early yet again he struck once more— finally earning his life sentence.
Before his early release last year there was nationwide controversy over his big Lotto win—thanks to a ticket bought while out on day release.
He wasn't freed until March last year having served almost 16 years in prison.
Now the families of Ponteland can only keep watch and pray THEIR luck holds out.
Crack addict who butchered teacher
GENTLE teacher Robert Symons would be alive today if his brutal killer Yousef Bouhaddaou had been kept behind bars.
Instead the crack addict was released early from a five-year stretch for burglary—and just five weeks later he broke into 45-year-old Robert's west London home and stabbed him to death while his two children slept upstairs. Robert died in his wife Linda's arms.
As Bouhaddaou, 28, got life last week, it emerged he was released early despite being previously convicted of at least 19 offences. Linda, 45, said: "That man shouldn't have been on the streets. There is something wrong with a system that lets people offend again and again."
Death at hands of Devil's Child
EVIL Damien Hanson was freed seven years into a 12-year sentence for attempted murder. Just three months later he stabbed financier John Monckton to death on the doorstep of his Chelsea home in a terrifying robbery.
John's wife Homeyra was also knifed but survived. Their nine-year-old daughter Isobel had to dial 999 after finding her parents lying in a pool of blood. Hanson, 25— nicknamed the Devil's Child after The Omen movies— was granted parole even though he had a long history of violence, robbery and theft stretching back to when he was 14.
He should have got a psychological assessment upon release but an inquiry found it was either lost or never carried out so he was never placed under supervision.
Murdered by Home Office
A DISTRAUGHT husband whose wife was slaughtered as she tried to defend him from killer James Paton last night stormed: "The Home Office is responsible for her death too."
Christopher Ruane broke his silence after Paton, 25, got life last week for murdering Diane, 51, in a robbery at the couple's home. Paton was on the streets after serving just two thirds of a six-and-a-half year sentence for manslaughter when he knifed Christopher on his doorstep and slashed mum-of-five Diane's throat as she tried to intervene.
"If Paton hadn't been given such a lenient sentence he couldn't have killed my Diane," said Christopher, 59.
"Now a second family are destroyed because he was allowed back on the streets.
Chest
"I'm speaking out for Diane and for every family which has lost a loved one because the legal system has let them down."
Paton and his accomplice Carl Brady — who got 20 years—left the couple for dead after raiding their Bradford home. Paton had previously killed a man in 1998 after stamping on his chest.
Christopher said: "I hope they never get released. They should die in jail."
Serial Fiend on mission to kill
SEX fiend Anthony Rice murdered young mum Naomi Bryant — just months after being freed from a life sentence.
Rice, 48, was supposed to be under supervision on release in November, 2004, having served only 16 years.
But he stabbed Naomi 15 times because she wouldn't hold his hand in public. He told cops: "There's a determination within me to kill."
By Neville Thurlbeck
EVERY woman and girl in Britain must today be on her guard—for freed Lotto rapist Iorworth Hoare is on the prowl again.
The News of the World TWICE caught the sex beast leering at unsuspecting schoolgirls out for an innocent lunchtime stroll.
And Hoare is only one of a horde of monsters released from jail to kill, rape or maim again and again.
The shocking cases highlighted on this page all feature repeat offenders set free to destroy the lives of more victims by a justice system hopelessly skewed in the offender's favour.
Hoare—a lifelong sex offender who was sentenced to life but released after 16 years—walked A MILE out of his way to stroll past three schools, swivelling his head to lech over the giggling girls.
Stare
Now his neighbours around the upmarket Darras Hall estate in Ponteland, Northumberland, are terrified. One worried parent said last night: "He's a walking nightmare for us. We all fear he could strike at any time."
Our shock pictures show 53-year-old Hoare, who won £7million Lotto cash in jail, watching two sets of girls intently.
First he fixed them with a menacing stare as they approached him in the tree-lined streets. Then as the oblivious girls passed he turned to ogle them from behind. A neighbour who saw the entire scene told us: "There were three girls aged 14 or 15 in the first group and Hoare couldn't take his eyes off them. When they walked by he actually stopped, turned and glared at them for ages as they moved away.
"It was so blatant. He was obviously leching after them. A few minutes later he did exactly the same thing as another two girls passed. He stared at them walking off into the distance for about four seconds."
The most disturbing thing about Leeds-born Hoare's predatory prowl is the roundabout route he took from his luxury £700,000 home—to maximise his opportunities for crossing the path of teenage girls.
The neighbour told us: "He left his home at lunchtime and walked for about a mile to a cashpoint. Then he went to a baker's, bought a pie and ate it. But all the time he was very furtive as if he was looking out for someone. He then took a much longer route home which took him about a mile out of his way. I thought it was odd—but then I realised it was because he wanted to walk past THREE schools as all the girls were coming out for their midday break.
"It's an absolute scandal that people like Hoare are freed before their sentence is up and then are free to put innocent communities like us in terror."
Since being released in March last year, Hoare has changed his name to Edward Thomas and tried to disguise his appearance. The hair is now short and grey and the beard has gone.
His worried neighbour added: "He dresses as inconspicuously as possible in a country-style coat and jeans.
But we all know who he really is now and we've all told our children to keep as far away from him as they can."
The parents of Ponteland are right to be worried. Judge Richard Rougier, who sentenced Hoare to life in 1989 for brutally dragging off a 60-year-old woman in a park and trying to rape her, told him:
"Every moment you are at liberty, some woman is at risk."
And just two months ago the judge declared: "If I were a woman I wouldn't feel safe with him living near me."
Hoare has committed a series of horrendous crimes dating back over 33 years. His appalling record includes rape, three attempted rapes and three sickening assaults.
He was originally convicted of a rape bid in Leeds in June 1973 and given three years. He was only 21 when he attacked a doctor's wife in the grounds of the city's Killingbeck Hospital.
Alarm
On being freed he tried to rape again and and was jailed for four years in November 1975. But he was let out early—and still a menace to women. In September 1978 he got four more years for indecent assault.
In 1983 he pounced on a woman teacher and sexually attacked her but ran off when the alarm was raised.
A few weeks later he dragged a lone 37-year-old housewife into woods and raped her. He was sentenced to seven years.
But after being released early yet again he struck once more— finally earning his life sentence.
Before his early release last year there was nationwide controversy over his big Lotto win—thanks to a ticket bought while out on day release.
He wasn't freed until March last year having served almost 16 years in prison.
Now the families of Ponteland can only keep watch and pray THEIR luck holds out.
Crack addict who butchered teacher
GENTLE teacher Robert Symons would be alive today if his brutal killer Yousef Bouhaddaou had been kept behind bars.
Instead the crack addict was released early from a five-year stretch for burglary—and just five weeks later he broke into 45-year-old Robert's west London home and stabbed him to death while his two children slept upstairs. Robert died in his wife Linda's arms.
As Bouhaddaou, 28, got life last week, it emerged he was released early despite being previously convicted of at least 19 offences. Linda, 45, said: "That man shouldn't have been on the streets. There is something wrong with a system that lets people offend again and again."
Death at hands of Devil's Child
EVIL Damien Hanson was freed seven years into a 12-year sentence for attempted murder. Just three months later he stabbed financier John Monckton to death on the doorstep of his Chelsea home in a terrifying robbery.
John's wife Homeyra was also knifed but survived. Their nine-year-old daughter Isobel had to dial 999 after finding her parents lying in a pool of blood. Hanson, 25— nicknamed the Devil's Child after The Omen movies— was granted parole even though he had a long history of violence, robbery and theft stretching back to when he was 14.
He should have got a psychological assessment upon release but an inquiry found it was either lost or never carried out so he was never placed under supervision.
Murdered by Home Office
A DISTRAUGHT husband whose wife was slaughtered as she tried to defend him from killer James Paton last night stormed: "The Home Office is responsible for her death too."
Christopher Ruane broke his silence after Paton, 25, got life last week for murdering Diane, 51, in a robbery at the couple's home. Paton was on the streets after serving just two thirds of a six-and-a-half year sentence for manslaughter when he knifed Christopher on his doorstep and slashed mum-of-five Diane's throat as she tried to intervene.
"If Paton hadn't been given such a lenient sentence he couldn't have killed my Diane," said Christopher, 59.
"Now a second family are destroyed because he was allowed back on the streets.
Chest
"I'm speaking out for Diane and for every family which has lost a loved one because the legal system has let them down."
Paton and his accomplice Carl Brady — who got 20 years—left the couple for dead after raiding their Bradford home. Paton had previously killed a man in 1998 after stamping on his chest.
Christopher said: "I hope they never get released. They should die in jail."
Serial Fiend on mission to kill
SEX fiend Anthony Rice murdered young mum Naomi Bryant — just months after being freed from a life sentence.
Rice, 48, was supposed to be under supervision on release in November, 2004, having served only 16 years.
But he stabbed Naomi 15 times because she wouldn't hold his hand in public. He told cops: "There's a determination within me to kill."
Sunday, March 12, 2006
MET BOSS PHONE TAPING SCANDAL
By Ian Kirby
BRITAIN'S top policeman has been caught secretly recording a private phone call to a senior government minister, the News of the World can reveal.
Metropolitan Chief Sir Ian Blair made the digital recording without permission in August, shortly after officers shot Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, wrongly thinking he was a suicide bomber.
The taping—a clear breach of protocol—was of a private one-to-one talk with a senior minister from outside the Home Office.
Our revelation comes after it emerged Sir Ian had also secretly recorded three conversations with Independent Police Complaints Commission officials investigating the de Menezes shooting. They included IPCC chairman Nick Hardwick.
Blair's conduct in the wake of the shooting is being investigated by the IPCC. It is understood two further conversations were recorded by Blair in his private office on Scotland Yard's 8th floor without the other person's knowledge.
The minister involved in the "important" call with Blair was last night said to be livid about the "gross breach of trust".
A Whitehall source said: "He thinks it's unbelievable that the Commissioner could behave so disgracefully—and wants an apology."
At the very least his behaviour will be seen as highly unprofessional. Blair is currently on a ski holiday while his most trusted aides transcribe the recordings to analyse how damaging they are.
Last night senior Whitehall and police sources described the revelation as "explosive" and the reasons for the bugging "a mystery".
One police source said: "Why on earth did he feel he needed to do it? Only he knows. "It's bizarre. He's shot himself and the Met in the foot again."
BRITAIN'S top policeman has been caught secretly recording a private phone call to a senior government minister, the News of the World can reveal.
Metropolitan Chief Sir Ian Blair made the digital recording without permission in August, shortly after officers shot Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, wrongly thinking he was a suicide bomber.
The taping—a clear breach of protocol—was of a private one-to-one talk with a senior minister from outside the Home Office.
Our revelation comes after it emerged Sir Ian had also secretly recorded three conversations with Independent Police Complaints Commission officials investigating the de Menezes shooting. They included IPCC chairman Nick Hardwick.
Blair's conduct in the wake of the shooting is being investigated by the IPCC. It is understood two further conversations were recorded by Blair in his private office on Scotland Yard's 8th floor without the other person's knowledge.
The minister involved in the "important" call with Blair was last night said to be livid about the "gross breach of trust".
A Whitehall source said: "He thinks it's unbelievable that the Commissioner could behave so disgracefully—and wants an apology."
At the very least his behaviour will be seen as highly unprofessional. Blair is currently on a ski holiday while his most trusted aides transcribe the recordings to analyse how damaging they are.
Last night senior Whitehall and police sources described the revelation as "explosive" and the reasons for the bugging "a mystery".
One police source said: "Why on earth did he feel he needed to do it? Only he knows. "It's bizarre. He's shot himself and the Met in the foot again."
Sunday, March 05, 2006
A SPLIT DODGY
By Ian Kirby, Keith Gladdis and Ryan Sabey
FUROUS Tessa Jowell kicked out her husband after a row over him using her links to Tony Blair in a series of dodgy business deals.
The News of the World can reveal the Culture Secretary ACCUSED hubby David Mills of cashing in on her government position and INSISTED on a split.
But last night many MPs, including her own Labour colleagues, dismissed the move as a callous and cynical bid to save her career.
The separation after 27 years of marriage was announced yesterday after two weeks of intense scrutiny into Mills's murky business dealings.
In a statement his solicitor said: "This whole business has imposed a dreadful strain on my client and his marriage. They hope over time their relationship can be restored, but, given the current circumstances, they've agreed to a period of separation."
But we can reveal the final straw was a letter Mills sent to authorities in Dubai where he wanted to be allowed to work as a lawyer. It read:
"You will know I am married to a member of the Cabinet of this country. I have the support and sympathy of very many people in public life, from the Prime Minister down."
When the details became clear on Thursday Ms Jowell, 58, hit the roof. A close friend and colleague revealed: "She was furious that she was reading things in the newspapers that she did not know. The letter brought everything to a head—there has now been a breakdown of trust.
"They love each other very much but for the moment they cannot stay together."
After a huge bust-up the Culture Secretary and her husband spent Friday planning the separation, before she left their London home holding newborn grandchild Lola in the late afternoon.
She informed Prime Minister Tony Blair of her decision and he is understood to have given her his private support in an emotional phone call.
But last night many Labour MPs were suspicious of the motives behind the split, claiming it was too "convenient" for Ms Jowell.
One colleague accused Ms Jowell of causing a "media circus" with the separation. Another branded it a "ridiculous stunt". A third Labour MP said the split "might give her 48 hours but won't save her job". But an MP close to Chancellor Gordon Brown said: "I smell Alastair." He was referring to Mr Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who famously told Robin Cook to split from then wife Margaret in an airport as the News of the World was about to expose his affair.
Meanwhile, Mills, 60, left the family home in Kentish Town, north London, early yesterday morning, and was believed to be heading abroad.
Another friend of the couple said: "Tessa's felt pulverised by everything she has discovered this week and thinks the split is the only way forward.
"David didn't want it. At the moment he is a man fighting to save his reputation and his marriage."
Mills, a corporate lawyer, is still facing accusations in Italy that he received a £350,000 bribe in 1999 from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over evidence he gave in a court case against him—a claim he denies.
He will find out on Tuesday if he will stand trial in Milan. Ms Jowell was dragged into the affair after it was disclosed that she had signed papers for a loan secured on their London home which was subsequently paid off with the help of the £350,000.
Later it was revealed that there have been FIVE loans taken out on their London home and FOUR on their country house in Warwickshire in an astonishing mortgage-go-round. All but two have been repaid.
The couple are also believed to be under increasing financial pressure.
It had been thought Mr Mills was a multi-millionaire but his assets were valued at £470,000 last year and both the couple's homes are now mortgaged.
A probe by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell found Ms Jowell SHOULD have declared the £350,000 once she found out about it—which Mr Mills said came from a Naples shipowner. Tony Blair, however, accepted her explanation that she was only told by her husband about the money four years later.
Alastair Campbell last night denied he had played any role in advising the couple about their break-up.
He said: "David and Tessa have been good friends of ours for many years and we are obviously very saddened. First I knew was when David told me yesterday."
Ms Jowell's parliamentary private secretary Huw Irranca-Davies insisted that she would be back at work in Westminster as normal on Monday.
He dismissed as "cynical spin" suggestions that the split was simply a "career-saving move".
"This is a horrendous decision for anybody," he said.
FUROUS Tessa Jowell kicked out her husband after a row over him using her links to Tony Blair in a series of dodgy business deals.
The News of the World can reveal the Culture Secretary ACCUSED hubby David Mills of cashing in on her government position and INSISTED on a split.
But last night many MPs, including her own Labour colleagues, dismissed the move as a callous and cynical bid to save her career.
The separation after 27 years of marriage was announced yesterday after two weeks of intense scrutiny into Mills's murky business dealings.
In a statement his solicitor said: "This whole business has imposed a dreadful strain on my client and his marriage. They hope over time their relationship can be restored, but, given the current circumstances, they've agreed to a period of separation."
But we can reveal the final straw was a letter Mills sent to authorities in Dubai where he wanted to be allowed to work as a lawyer. It read:
"You will know I am married to a member of the Cabinet of this country. I have the support and sympathy of very many people in public life, from the Prime Minister down."
When the details became clear on Thursday Ms Jowell, 58, hit the roof. A close friend and colleague revealed: "She was furious that she was reading things in the newspapers that she did not know. The letter brought everything to a head—there has now been a breakdown of trust.
"They love each other very much but for the moment they cannot stay together."
After a huge bust-up the Culture Secretary and her husband spent Friday planning the separation, before she left their London home holding newborn grandchild Lola in the late afternoon.
She informed Prime Minister Tony Blair of her decision and he is understood to have given her his private support in an emotional phone call.
But last night many Labour MPs were suspicious of the motives behind the split, claiming it was too "convenient" for Ms Jowell.
One colleague accused Ms Jowell of causing a "media circus" with the separation. Another branded it a "ridiculous stunt". A third Labour MP said the split "might give her 48 hours but won't save her job". But an MP close to Chancellor Gordon Brown said: "I smell Alastair." He was referring to Mr Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who famously told Robin Cook to split from then wife Margaret in an airport as the News of the World was about to expose his affair.
Meanwhile, Mills, 60, left the family home in Kentish Town, north London, early yesterday morning, and was believed to be heading abroad.
Another friend of the couple said: "Tessa's felt pulverised by everything she has discovered this week and thinks the split is the only way forward.
"David didn't want it. At the moment he is a man fighting to save his reputation and his marriage."
Mills, a corporate lawyer, is still facing accusations in Italy that he received a £350,000 bribe in 1999 from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over evidence he gave in a court case against him—a claim he denies.
He will find out on Tuesday if he will stand trial in Milan. Ms Jowell was dragged into the affair after it was disclosed that she had signed papers for a loan secured on their London home which was subsequently paid off with the help of the £350,000.
Later it was revealed that there have been FIVE loans taken out on their London home and FOUR on their country house in Warwickshire in an astonishing mortgage-go-round. All but two have been repaid.
The couple are also believed to be under increasing financial pressure.
It had been thought Mr Mills was a multi-millionaire but his assets were valued at £470,000 last year and both the couple's homes are now mortgaged.
A probe by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell found Ms Jowell SHOULD have declared the £350,000 once she found out about it—which Mr Mills said came from a Naples shipowner. Tony Blair, however, accepted her explanation that she was only told by her husband about the money four years later.
Alastair Campbell last night denied he had played any role in advising the couple about their break-up.
He said: "David and Tessa have been good friends of ours for many years and we are obviously very saddened. First I knew was when David told me yesterday."
Ms Jowell's parliamentary private secretary Huw Irranca-Davies insisted that she would be back at work in Westminster as normal on Monday.
He dismissed as "cynical spin" suggestions that the split was simply a "career-saving move".
"This is a horrendous decision for anybody," he said.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
THIS MAN'S THE DEVIL... it's only a matter of time
By Carole Aye Maung & David Martyn
ONE of the world's worst serial paedophiles is living free among children in Britain, waiting to pounce. And the police can do nothing about it.
We tracked down notorious sex monster Robert Excell to his ‘safe house' lair in the Oxfordshire countryside—just yards from a kiddies' playground AND a primary school.
Click here to watch video of Excell mingling with unsuspecting shoppers:
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Windows Media (high)
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Real Player (high)
One of his tortured rape victims predicted: "He WILL do it again. It's just a matter of time.
"Excell is a sick bastard—an evil, sadistic predator. He is the devil— and I'm absolutely horrified that the authorities would ever allow him anywhere near children."
Fake
British-born Excell, 67, has spent 37 of the last 39 years in an Australian prison for a catalogue of appalling sex crimes against young boys.
Three times he was released on parole and EVERY time he struck again, wrecking more innocent lives.
But after being freed last year he was branded a "continuing risk" to kids and deported home to Britain— merely to be put on the sex offenders' list and allowed to ‘vanish' into a new life under a false name, apparently unsupervised and all funded by the taxpayer.
Scandalously, because all his crimes so far have been on foreign soil, the British authorities are powerless to act against him— until he inevitably attacks yet another child. As well as adopting the fake name Daniel Wright, Excell has undergone a staggering transformation in a desperate bid to hide his true identity. He has shaved off his distinctive goatee beard, chopped his mullet hairdo short and shed weight.
Now he looks more like a storybook grandpa—unrecognisable from the bloated, wheelchair-bound monster who flew in last August.
After moving into his bungalow with wife Maxine—a psychiatric nurse he met during therapy in 1982 —Excell has become the "friendly new neighbour" gradually infiltrating his unsuspecting community.
We saw him chatting to the mums and young children who have to pass his back garden to get to the playground just 150 yards away, or the school beyond that.
From his plot Excell has a clear and uninterrupted view of the youngsters playing on the swings and roundabout. And he seems to spend a lot of time in his garden.
Last month there was a public outcry when Excell—who claims to suffer from asthma, diabetes and a heart condition—-was given backdated disability benefits and grants totalling £17,000 for a new car and improvements to his new home.
He is also entitled to weekly handouts totalling £262 in disability living allowance, incapacity benefit and severe disability allowance. Strangely, this week he looked in the peak of health. We even videoed him shopping WITHOUT his wheels. But as victims and former fellow inmates warned, Excell has always been a master deceiver.
A one-time jail pal revealed how Excell—who was sent to Australia in 1948 on the Child Migrant Scheme— was in the habit of exaggerating his illnesses to appear less dangerous.
"Excell may look all weak and harmless in his wheelchair—but don't be fooled," said the friend.
"He'd NEVER ride it around prison. He plays up his illness—but he's a very dangerous man. He'll strike again if he gets the chance."
Just like he did in 1977 when he lured a 13-year-old called Paul into his clutches and subjected him to a degrading brutal rape.
When we told Paul—now a businesman and father of six in Perth, Australia—of Excell's new life and image he recognised his attacker's guile. "He's an evil trickster who worms his way into children's trust," said Paul, recalling how he was conned into his ordeal.
"I'd been swimming with pals at the beach when we were approached by Excell, who was walking his German Shepherd dog.
"He told us he was a dog trainer and we were all very impressed. And his dog WAS great.
"I played with it all afternoon and it was one of those days I didn't want to ever end. So when Excell suggested we meet up later to go to a drive-in movie, I couldn't wait. I actually thought I'd be playing with his dog some more.
"Unknown to me none of the other boys' parents gave them permission to go and when I got to Excell's home he took me inside and locked the door. I was expecting to see my friends but I was all alone—and I remember immediately feeling very, very afraid.
"Excell gave me a drink and I'm pretty sure he put something in it because it made me feel woozy.
"There was already a video camera set up and recording. Excell said if I told anyone about what was going to happen, he'd show the other boys the pictures. Then he told me he was going to hurt me.
"And he raped me. He really hurt me. Afterwards he dropped me at the end of my street. I went inside my house and cried all night.
"My brothers eventually coaxed out of me what happened, called the police and he was jailed again.
"But what Excell did has haunted me ever since and I've contemplated suicide several times. The damage lasts a lifetime. I can't believe anyone would ever allow Excell anywhere near children again.
"I can't stress enough how dangerous this man is. If he is ANYWHERE near children they are in peril.
Conman
"What are the British authorities thinking of? Please tell parents NEVER to let their children out of their sight while he's in their area. I'm very afraid for those youngsters.
"Next time he could go further. I believe he is capable of much worse."
Excell himself admits he is a master of deception. In a vile autobiography he hopes to publish he brags: "I blossomed. My actor, liar, manipulator and conman were well out in front."
True to form, Excell lied again when we confronted him on his doorstep. At first he denied his true ID, insisting: "I'm Daniel Wright" before slamming the door.
Later the cowardly weasel ushered wife Maxine to the door to own up and attempt to spin excuses.
"What about our rights?" she shouted. "Yes, he re-offended, he was shocked. He didn't know what he was doing."
ONE of the world's worst serial paedophiles is living free among children in Britain, waiting to pounce. And the police can do nothing about it.
We tracked down notorious sex monster Robert Excell to his ‘safe house' lair in the Oxfordshire countryside—just yards from a kiddies' playground AND a primary school.
Click here to watch video of Excell mingling with unsuspecting shoppers:
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One of his tortured rape victims predicted: "He WILL do it again. It's just a matter of time.
"Excell is a sick bastard—an evil, sadistic predator. He is the devil— and I'm absolutely horrified that the authorities would ever allow him anywhere near children."
Fake
British-born Excell, 67, has spent 37 of the last 39 years in an Australian prison for a catalogue of appalling sex crimes against young boys.
Three times he was released on parole and EVERY time he struck again, wrecking more innocent lives.
But after being freed last year he was branded a "continuing risk" to kids and deported home to Britain— merely to be put on the sex offenders' list and allowed to ‘vanish' into a new life under a false name, apparently unsupervised and all funded by the taxpayer.
Scandalously, because all his crimes so far have been on foreign soil, the British authorities are powerless to act against him— until he inevitably attacks yet another child. As well as adopting the fake name Daniel Wright, Excell has undergone a staggering transformation in a desperate bid to hide his true identity. He has shaved off his distinctive goatee beard, chopped his mullet hairdo short and shed weight.
Now he looks more like a storybook grandpa—unrecognisable from the bloated, wheelchair-bound monster who flew in last August.
After moving into his bungalow with wife Maxine—a psychiatric nurse he met during therapy in 1982 —Excell has become the "friendly new neighbour" gradually infiltrating his unsuspecting community.
We saw him chatting to the mums and young children who have to pass his back garden to get to the playground just 150 yards away, or the school beyond that.
From his plot Excell has a clear and uninterrupted view of the youngsters playing on the swings and roundabout. And he seems to spend a lot of time in his garden.
Last month there was a public outcry when Excell—who claims to suffer from asthma, diabetes and a heart condition—-was given backdated disability benefits and grants totalling £17,000 for a new car and improvements to his new home.
He is also entitled to weekly handouts totalling £262 in disability living allowance, incapacity benefit and severe disability allowance. Strangely, this week he looked in the peak of health. We even videoed him shopping WITHOUT his wheels. But as victims and former fellow inmates warned, Excell has always been a master deceiver.
A one-time jail pal revealed how Excell—who was sent to Australia in 1948 on the Child Migrant Scheme— was in the habit of exaggerating his illnesses to appear less dangerous.
"Excell may look all weak and harmless in his wheelchair—but don't be fooled," said the friend.
"He'd NEVER ride it around prison. He plays up his illness—but he's a very dangerous man. He'll strike again if he gets the chance."
Just like he did in 1977 when he lured a 13-year-old called Paul into his clutches and subjected him to a degrading brutal rape.
When we told Paul—now a businesman and father of six in Perth, Australia—of Excell's new life and image he recognised his attacker's guile. "He's an evil trickster who worms his way into children's trust," said Paul, recalling how he was conned into his ordeal.
"I'd been swimming with pals at the beach when we were approached by Excell, who was walking his German Shepherd dog.
"He told us he was a dog trainer and we were all very impressed. And his dog WAS great.
"I played with it all afternoon and it was one of those days I didn't want to ever end. So when Excell suggested we meet up later to go to a drive-in movie, I couldn't wait. I actually thought I'd be playing with his dog some more.
"Unknown to me none of the other boys' parents gave them permission to go and when I got to Excell's home he took me inside and locked the door. I was expecting to see my friends but I was all alone—and I remember immediately feeling very, very afraid.
"Excell gave me a drink and I'm pretty sure he put something in it because it made me feel woozy.
"There was already a video camera set up and recording. Excell said if I told anyone about what was going to happen, he'd show the other boys the pictures. Then he told me he was going to hurt me.
"And he raped me. He really hurt me. Afterwards he dropped me at the end of my street. I went inside my house and cried all night.
"My brothers eventually coaxed out of me what happened, called the police and he was jailed again.
"But what Excell did has haunted me ever since and I've contemplated suicide several times. The damage lasts a lifetime. I can't believe anyone would ever allow Excell anywhere near children again.
"I can't stress enough how dangerous this man is. If he is ANYWHERE near children they are in peril.
Conman
"What are the British authorities thinking of? Please tell parents NEVER to let their children out of their sight while he's in their area. I'm very afraid for those youngsters.
"Next time he could go further. I believe he is capable of much worse."
Excell himself admits he is a master of deception. In a vile autobiography he hopes to publish he brags: "I blossomed. My actor, liar, manipulator and conman were well out in front."
True to form, Excell lied again when we confronted him on his doorstep. At first he denied his true ID, insisting: "I'm Daniel Wright" before slamming the door.
Later the cowardly weasel ushered wife Maxine to the door to own up and attempt to spin excuses.
"What about our rights?" she shouted. "Yes, he re-offended, he was shocked. He didn't know what he was doing."
Sunday, February 19, 2006
I KILLED BILLIE-JO
By Neville Thurlbeck & Lucy Panton
THE HUNT for the killer of Billie-Jo Jenkins took a shock twist yesterday after a jailed murderer told a cellmate HE bludgeoned the schoolgirl to death.
During a series of lengthy discussions, the prisoner confessed to battering the 13-year-old with a metal tent peg before fleeing the scene.
Police were tipped off by a prison supergrass after the inmate, doing life for murder, revealed his dark secret. They believe he could be telling the truth and are checking his story for fatal flaws.
So far, they have found none.
The new evidence could finally clear the name of Billie-Jo's foster-dad, Sion Jenkins, who was acquitted after a third murder trial ended in a hung jury earlier this month.
Last night officers from the Sussex force were preparing to travel to Wakefield jail in Yorkshire to question the convict. Police think he may well have been in the area of Billie-Jo's home town
Hastings on the day she was killed, February 15, 1997. The probe is in its early stages but plans are being made to take his DNA and check it against evidence found at the crime scene.
Last night a police source told the News of the World: "This could be the big breakthrough we've been waiting for.
"His story seems highly credible and everything has checked out so far. It seems to be a heartfelt confession from a man who wants to unburden himself of a disturbing secret.
"He is not mentally ill, he is cogent and articulate.
"If this information checks out it could finally piece together the murder puzzle."
Police will compare the killer's previous modus operandi with the murder of Billie-Jo in a bid to discover any similarities.
If the new suspect is charged and convicted, it will bring to an end a nightmare nine years for Sion Jenkins.
Because he was only acquitted when two juries failed to agree on a verdict, the finger of suspicion still points at him. Last week he refused to take a lie detector test.
But the new confession could clear his name for good, paving the way for him to start a new life.
Jenkins was found guilty of killing his foster-daughter and sentenced to life in 1998.
The jury heard that Billie-Jo's skull was smashed with a metal tent peg as she painted patio doors at the Jenkins' home in Hastings. The main evidence against him was that his clothing contained 148 spots of Billie-Jo's blood that were invisible to the naked eye. The prosecution said they could only have got there if he had killed her. No motive was ever established.
After serving six years in prison, Jenkins had his conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal in 2004.
New scientific evidence suggested the blood could have soaked into his clothing as he bent down to see if Billie-Jo was breathing, or as he cradled her in his arms.
A retrial was ordered but a jury failed to reach a verdict. Jenkins, 48, now married to millionaire heiress Christina Ferneyhough, finally walked free ten days ago after a jury failed to reach a verdict at a second retrial.
But a cloud still hung over him after it was revealed his first wife Lois left him because, she claimed, he was a violent bully who beat her and the kids.
If the confession is true, it will be a huge embarrassment for Sussex police.
Bob Woffenden, a campaigning journalist and close friend of the Jenkins family, said of the jail confession: "Sion will be delighted.
"We have always believed he is innocent. It is extremely encouraging that this new information is being treated seriously by detectives."
It is not unusual for cell confessions to be used to convict killers. The evil paedophile ring which snatched and killed seven-year-old Mark Tildesley in 1984 was nailed after a cell confession.
Leslie "Catweasel" Bailey was sentence to life in October 1992 after evidence from a cellmate. He was murdered the following year.
A prison service spokesman said last night: "We are not going to comment on this story."
A Sussex police source said: "We will follow up all fresh information."
THE HUNT for the killer of Billie-Jo Jenkins took a shock twist yesterday after a jailed murderer told a cellmate HE bludgeoned the schoolgirl to death.
During a series of lengthy discussions, the prisoner confessed to battering the 13-year-old with a metal tent peg before fleeing the scene.
Police were tipped off by a prison supergrass after the inmate, doing life for murder, revealed his dark secret. They believe he could be telling the truth and are checking his story for fatal flaws.
So far, they have found none.
The new evidence could finally clear the name of Billie-Jo's foster-dad, Sion Jenkins, who was acquitted after a third murder trial ended in a hung jury earlier this month.
Last night officers from the Sussex force were preparing to travel to Wakefield jail in Yorkshire to question the convict. Police think he may well have been in the area of Billie-Jo's home town
Hastings on the day she was killed, February 15, 1997. The probe is in its early stages but plans are being made to take his DNA and check it against evidence found at the crime scene.
Last night a police source told the News of the World: "This could be the big breakthrough we've been waiting for.
"His story seems highly credible and everything has checked out so far. It seems to be a heartfelt confession from a man who wants to unburden himself of a disturbing secret.
"He is not mentally ill, he is cogent and articulate.
"If this information checks out it could finally piece together the murder puzzle."
Police will compare the killer's previous modus operandi with the murder of Billie-Jo in a bid to discover any similarities.
If the new suspect is charged and convicted, it will bring to an end a nightmare nine years for Sion Jenkins.
Because he was only acquitted when two juries failed to agree on a verdict, the finger of suspicion still points at him. Last week he refused to take a lie detector test.
But the new confession could clear his name for good, paving the way for him to start a new life.
Jenkins was found guilty of killing his foster-daughter and sentenced to life in 1998.
The jury heard that Billie-Jo's skull was smashed with a metal tent peg as she painted patio doors at the Jenkins' home in Hastings. The main evidence against him was that his clothing contained 148 spots of Billie-Jo's blood that were invisible to the naked eye. The prosecution said they could only have got there if he had killed her. No motive was ever established.
After serving six years in prison, Jenkins had his conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal in 2004.
New scientific evidence suggested the blood could have soaked into his clothing as he bent down to see if Billie-Jo was breathing, or as he cradled her in his arms.
A retrial was ordered but a jury failed to reach a verdict. Jenkins, 48, now married to millionaire heiress Christina Ferneyhough, finally walked free ten days ago after a jury failed to reach a verdict at a second retrial.
But a cloud still hung over him after it was revealed his first wife Lois left him because, she claimed, he was a violent bully who beat her and the kids.
If the confession is true, it will be a huge embarrassment for Sussex police.
Bob Woffenden, a campaigning journalist and close friend of the Jenkins family, said of the jail confession: "Sion will be delighted.
"We have always believed he is innocent. It is extremely encouraging that this new information is being treated seriously by detectives."
It is not unusual for cell confessions to be used to convict killers. The evil paedophile ring which snatched and killed seven-year-old Mark Tildesley in 1984 was nailed after a cell confession.
Leslie "Catweasel" Bailey was sentence to life in October 1992 after evidence from a cellmate. He was murdered the following year.
A prison service spokesman said last night: "We are not going to comment on this story."
A Sussex police source said: "We will follow up all fresh information."
Sunday, February 12, 2006
SHAMED BY 42 BRAINLESS BLOWS
By Robert Kellaway
TODAY we expose a rogue squad of British soldiers who savagely attacked a defenceless bunch of Iraqi teenagers —and with 42 brutal blows brought shame on our nation and its proud army.
The horrifying scenes on these pages will shock the world and ignite a huge military scandal.
They were captured on a secret home video — apparently filmed for "fun" by a corporal—and show at least eight of his hulking comrades cruelly:
DRAGGING four weedy rioters—all apparently in their early teens—off the street and behind the high walls of a secluded army compound,
BEATING them senseless with vicious blows from batons, boots and fists,
IGNORING their pitiful pleas for mercy, until the incident climaxes with what appears to be an NCO delivering a sickening full-force kick in the genitals of a cringeing lad pinned to the ground.
All the while the callous cameraman delivers a stomach-churning commentary urging his mates on, cackling with laughter and screaming: "Oh yes! Oh yes! You're gonna get it. Yes, naughty little boys! You little f***ers, you little f***ers. DIE! Ha, ha!"
Insult
The video—later shown to the corporal's pals at their home base in Europe—was exposed to the News of the World by a disgusted whistleblower.
He told us the unit and regiment involved but for security reasons we are not publishing the details.
Our informant said: "These Iraqis were just kids. Most haven't even got shoes on.
"Those eight soldiers were pumped up and out of control. They're an insult to the thousands of soldiers who have worked so hard in Iraq with courage and dignity for so long.
"They're nothing but a gang of thugs, a disgrace to themselves, their regiment and country."
The cowardly beating is believed to have taken place in early 2004 amid a series of street riots in southern Iraq. Troops were involved in running battles with hundreds of screaming demonstrators armed with stones, sticks, shovels and home-made grenades.
The atmosphere and tension comes across vividly in the video, believed to have been shot from a rooftop within the troops' HQ compound. The muzzle of an Army SA80 rifle laid on its side is visible in the foreground.
A DIY grenade lands and explodes inside the compound—blasting out shrapnel and a cloud of grey-white smoke. A fire blazes just outside the perimeter wall sending up a pall of black fumes as crowds of rioters chant abuse at the soldiers. Dozens of youths run towards the compound hurling stones, but suddenly turn on their heels—chased by a unit of squaddies in combat helmets with riot visors and desert camouflage. Some of the soldiers are wearing flak vests and are armed with batons and rifles.
A crackling radio message to the troops pinpoints a target: "Black top, blue bottoms! Black top, blue bottoms! GO!"
The camera then cuts to eight soldiers returning with four prisoners, gripped in headlocks. The squad march their captives to the compound gate and drag them inside—out of sight from the rioters outside. Then the horror begins.
PRISONER 1 is hauled in wearing a dark blue T-shirt, blue jeans and white trainers—the only victim not in bare feet.
His captor releases the headlock, stands him up and—with combat helmet on and visor down—lands a crushing head butt. He rips the youngster's T-shirt over his head and smashes his right fist twice into his kidneys and once into his head.
In panic the terrified captive desperately clings to the lanyard of the soldier's baton in an attempt to stop it being used on him.
His pitiful cries of "No! Please!" are clearly heard. But the mocking commentator merely puts on a childlike voice and mimics his Iraqi accent: "No, pleeese—don't hurt me."
Another soldier grabs the lad by the neck and hurls him to the floor to be kicked and beaten again. The head-butt soldier then raises his baton and brings it crashing down on him.
PRISONER 2, in blue T-shirt and grey trousers, is marched in, gripped by the shoulder. His captor forces him to the ground and hits him about the body and legs with his baton.
As he unleashes ten blows the boy twists and squirms around the soldier's ankles trying to save himself. A soldier in a floppy hat—not part of the snatch squad—looks on. He is clearly unsure of what to do but does not look alarmed or make any attempt to stop the beating.
Instead he helps fix plastic restraining ties on the lad's wrists. Another burly soldier, in desert camouflage and webbing belt with water bottle attached, strides up and whacks the Iraqi's backside with a baton. The prisoner's feet jerk in agony before he appears to pass out, a dark patch that looks like blood around his head. Meanwhile PRISONER 3, in white T-shirt and jeans, is booted in the back and body six times by two soldiers.
As he struggles on the floor one squaddie grabs him by the shoulder, kicks him twice and cracks him about the legs and bare feet with his baton.
PRISONER 4, barefoot in light blue T-shirt with beige trousers, is beaten before being picked bodily off the ground like a sack of potatoes, dumped on his chest and held with his arms up his back by two of the squad.
One soldier, identified by our source as a sergeant, walks up behind him and kicks him hard between the legs from behind.
The boy's body arches in pain and the soldier behind the camera is heard poking fun and groaning: "Oorrgghh!"
As another squad troop past and take no notice a soldier's voice is heard to scream: "In the f***ing head!"
The beating sequence on the video, which appears to be a series of excerpts from the incident, takes up 60 seconds of the 3minute 12second tape. Our investigators counted 42 separate blows but there were probably many more not caught on camera.
The video also has two other shocking sequences. In one, the camera approaches an Iraqi corpse while a soldier draws back a blanket to display it as a sickening trophy.
Sniggers
The cameraman then commits an act considered the ultimate insult to an Iraqi—and kicks the dead man twice in the face, humiliating him in death. As the head of the man, aged in his 20s, is lifted to face the lens a soldier sniggers: "He's been a bad mother****er."
Another scene shows an Iraqi man grabbed by three soldiers and forced to kneel behind a wall where he is kicked hard in the chest.
The video came to light following the unit's return home. Our source was horrified when he saw it and vowed the tape MUST be made public to force the army to clamp down on the abuse of prisoners—and protect the reputations of more than 80,000 dedicated British troops—including 101 killed and 230 injured—who have served in Iraq since the start of the second Gulf war.
He told us: "I'm sure those Iraqis weren't innocent little boys—I bet they'd all been slinging rocks and maybe even explosives. But that's no excuse for a beating like that.
"The ringleader was supposed to be a senior sergeant. Instead of reeling the lads in and calming them down, he was in the thick of it, urging them on. He even kicked that boy straight in the b***s with two other soldiers twice the lad's size holding him face down.
"That's sick. You could understand some terrified 19-year-old private losing it. But that's what NCOs are for—to lead and set an example."
Last night we handed our dossier of evidence to the Ministry of Defence. A Military Police investigation is now under way.
HANDFUL OF THUGS IN ARMY OF HEROES
By Chris Ryan
THIS appalling footage filled me with revulsion —and every professional British soldier would agree.
Seeing supposedly highly-trained troops beating defenceless teenagers to a pulp—and laughing about it in a brutal home video— made me sick to my stomach.
It is something I have never experienced in 20 years of soldiering—and something I hope never to see again.
This small group of men have at a stroke trashed the reputation of our forces around the globe.
The backlash may be fearsome. How can we ever win the battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people if we behave like the brutal dictatorship we were sent to remove?
And how can they—or any other population that British troops are entrusted to protect—ever put their faith in us again?
I can only pray this is an isolated incident because it makes a mockery of all the good work and sacrifices our servicemen and women have made in Iraq.
Now they face months, if not years, of increased danger, rebuilding the damage this senseless minority has caused.
And it terrifies me that these men have become so de-sensitised that they can behave like this.
Make no mistake, this incident will be jumped upon by our enemy as a recruiting call for terrorists and will escalate hatred everywhere.
But there is no doubt in my mind that it must be exposed and stamped on, hard. It must never happen again. In the short term things will get a lot tougher for us—this could fuel the fires of insurgency in Iraq and around the world.
But long-term, exposing and stamping out this behaviour is the only way to regain respect and trust for the British Army.
These men must be drummed out, and quickly, before their behaviour can influence others.
I hesitate to call them soldiers —because their actions are so far removed from the exemplary standards we expect of our troops.
They have betrayed their comrades, their training and everything British forces have traditionally stood for—their overriding sense of duty and decency.
In the military we have something called Conduct After Capture—how you should behave if you've been captured and, more importantly, how you conduct yourself with enemy prisoners.
The Geneva Convention—which governs the actions of every single serving British soldier—makes it crystal clear that prisoners deserve humane treatment.
There was an outcry after the first Gulf War at the way Iraq treated our prisoners of war. No one can forget those pictures of our captured fliers, beaten and paraded on TV.
But how can we expect the Iraqis, or anyone else, to treat captured or kidnapped British troops and civilians with dignity now? These aren't even enemy combatants. Even in a hardened society like Iraq they're still children. There is no doubt Iraq is the most dangerous place on Earth right now. And peacekeeping missions are every bit as dangerous and stressful as open war. More British troops have died since the war ended than were killed in action.
In this case a few bad apples have clearly let things get out of hand.
Psychologically the pressure of seeing comrades and friends killed and injured has an enormous impact.
Things have been spiralling out of control in Iraq for some time.
As a young soldier serving out there you are dealing with fear on a daily basis. You don't know when you wake up if it could be your last day on Earth. Roadside bombs, snipers, suicide bombers—these are all daily occurrences. Soldiers are only human so tempers do fray, people get tired and angry. But nobody has the right to react like this—no matter what they've seen or done. That's when the training, discipline and good command should take over.
Here it's gone out of the window and the body language of these soldiers is terrifying because it's so calm and natural.
This was a textbook operation to snatch troublemakers from the crowd—until they enter the compound and the beating starts.
These guys are clearly relaxed—judging by the way they are behaving, they're not expecting to be shot at or bombed. In fact they're so casual it's chilling.
This is something I fear they've experienced before—and the cameraman certainly knows what's going to happen next. When the voiceover tells us, "You're going to get it", he knows what he is talking about. His comments are just sickening, almost sexual, as he revels in the beatings.
His job up there is to observe the crowd, passing information down to the guys on the ground. Instead he's making a home video for his own gratification.
It's a frenzy of gratuitous violence, pure and simple—the vilest and most destructive form of vengeance.
As other members of the team arrive back they stroll past with barely a glance. The clear implication is they've seen this before.
And while they might not be taking part they are as complicit as the men dishing out the beating.
When I was in the SAS during the first Gulf War the lads would go across the border in snatch squads.
But there were NEVER any beatings of PoWs. Even during the hostilities these guys were begging to come HOME with us. That's victory in the vital battle for hearts and minds. We'd won them over and we'd won their respect.
The only thing this horrifying video will win is condemnation from all right-thinking people.
TODAY we expose a rogue squad of British soldiers who savagely attacked a defenceless bunch of Iraqi teenagers —and with 42 brutal blows brought shame on our nation and its proud army.
The horrifying scenes on these pages will shock the world and ignite a huge military scandal.
They were captured on a secret home video — apparently filmed for "fun" by a corporal—and show at least eight of his hulking comrades cruelly:
DRAGGING four weedy rioters—all apparently in their early teens—off the street and behind the high walls of a secluded army compound,
BEATING them senseless with vicious blows from batons, boots and fists,
IGNORING their pitiful pleas for mercy, until the incident climaxes with what appears to be an NCO delivering a sickening full-force kick in the genitals of a cringeing lad pinned to the ground.
All the while the callous cameraman delivers a stomach-churning commentary urging his mates on, cackling with laughter and screaming: "Oh yes! Oh yes! You're gonna get it. Yes, naughty little boys! You little f***ers, you little f***ers. DIE! Ha, ha!"
Insult
The video—later shown to the corporal's pals at their home base in Europe—was exposed to the News of the World by a disgusted whistleblower.
He told us the unit and regiment involved but for security reasons we are not publishing the details.
Our informant said: "These Iraqis were just kids. Most haven't even got shoes on.
"Those eight soldiers were pumped up and out of control. They're an insult to the thousands of soldiers who have worked so hard in Iraq with courage and dignity for so long.
"They're nothing but a gang of thugs, a disgrace to themselves, their regiment and country."
The cowardly beating is believed to have taken place in early 2004 amid a series of street riots in southern Iraq. Troops were involved in running battles with hundreds of screaming demonstrators armed with stones, sticks, shovels and home-made grenades.
The atmosphere and tension comes across vividly in the video, believed to have been shot from a rooftop within the troops' HQ compound. The muzzle of an Army SA80 rifle laid on its side is visible in the foreground.
A DIY grenade lands and explodes inside the compound—blasting out shrapnel and a cloud of grey-white smoke. A fire blazes just outside the perimeter wall sending up a pall of black fumes as crowds of rioters chant abuse at the soldiers. Dozens of youths run towards the compound hurling stones, but suddenly turn on their heels—chased by a unit of squaddies in combat helmets with riot visors and desert camouflage. Some of the soldiers are wearing flak vests and are armed with batons and rifles.
A crackling radio message to the troops pinpoints a target: "Black top, blue bottoms! Black top, blue bottoms! GO!"
The camera then cuts to eight soldiers returning with four prisoners, gripped in headlocks. The squad march their captives to the compound gate and drag them inside—out of sight from the rioters outside. Then the horror begins.
PRISONER 1 is hauled in wearing a dark blue T-shirt, blue jeans and white trainers—the only victim not in bare feet.
His captor releases the headlock, stands him up and—with combat helmet on and visor down—lands a crushing head butt. He rips the youngster's T-shirt over his head and smashes his right fist twice into his kidneys and once into his head.
In panic the terrified captive desperately clings to the lanyard of the soldier's baton in an attempt to stop it being used on him.
His pitiful cries of "No! Please!" are clearly heard. But the mocking commentator merely puts on a childlike voice and mimics his Iraqi accent: "No, pleeese—don't hurt me."
Another soldier grabs the lad by the neck and hurls him to the floor to be kicked and beaten again. The head-butt soldier then raises his baton and brings it crashing down on him.
PRISONER 2, in blue T-shirt and grey trousers, is marched in, gripped by the shoulder. His captor forces him to the ground and hits him about the body and legs with his baton.
As he unleashes ten blows the boy twists and squirms around the soldier's ankles trying to save himself. A soldier in a floppy hat—not part of the snatch squad—looks on. He is clearly unsure of what to do but does not look alarmed or make any attempt to stop the beating.
Instead he helps fix plastic restraining ties on the lad's wrists. Another burly soldier, in desert camouflage and webbing belt with water bottle attached, strides up and whacks the Iraqi's backside with a baton. The prisoner's feet jerk in agony before he appears to pass out, a dark patch that looks like blood around his head. Meanwhile PRISONER 3, in white T-shirt and jeans, is booted in the back and body six times by two soldiers.
As he struggles on the floor one squaddie grabs him by the shoulder, kicks him twice and cracks him about the legs and bare feet with his baton.
PRISONER 4, barefoot in light blue T-shirt with beige trousers, is beaten before being picked bodily off the ground like a sack of potatoes, dumped on his chest and held with his arms up his back by two of the squad.
One soldier, identified by our source as a sergeant, walks up behind him and kicks him hard between the legs from behind.
The boy's body arches in pain and the soldier behind the camera is heard poking fun and groaning: "Oorrgghh!"
As another squad troop past and take no notice a soldier's voice is heard to scream: "In the f***ing head!"
The beating sequence on the video, which appears to be a series of excerpts from the incident, takes up 60 seconds of the 3minute 12second tape. Our investigators counted 42 separate blows but there were probably many more not caught on camera.
The video also has two other shocking sequences. In one, the camera approaches an Iraqi corpse while a soldier draws back a blanket to display it as a sickening trophy.
Sniggers
The cameraman then commits an act considered the ultimate insult to an Iraqi—and kicks the dead man twice in the face, humiliating him in death. As the head of the man, aged in his 20s, is lifted to face the lens a soldier sniggers: "He's been a bad mother****er."
Another scene shows an Iraqi man grabbed by three soldiers and forced to kneel behind a wall where he is kicked hard in the chest.
The video came to light following the unit's return home. Our source was horrified when he saw it and vowed the tape MUST be made public to force the army to clamp down on the abuse of prisoners—and protect the reputations of more than 80,000 dedicated British troops—including 101 killed and 230 injured—who have served in Iraq since the start of the second Gulf war.
He told us: "I'm sure those Iraqis weren't innocent little boys—I bet they'd all been slinging rocks and maybe even explosives. But that's no excuse for a beating like that.
"The ringleader was supposed to be a senior sergeant. Instead of reeling the lads in and calming them down, he was in the thick of it, urging them on. He even kicked that boy straight in the b***s with two other soldiers twice the lad's size holding him face down.
"That's sick. You could understand some terrified 19-year-old private losing it. But that's what NCOs are for—to lead and set an example."
Last night we handed our dossier of evidence to the Ministry of Defence. A Military Police investigation is now under way.
HANDFUL OF THUGS IN ARMY OF HEROES
By Chris Ryan
THIS appalling footage filled me with revulsion —and every professional British soldier would agree.
Seeing supposedly highly-trained troops beating defenceless teenagers to a pulp—and laughing about it in a brutal home video— made me sick to my stomach.
It is something I have never experienced in 20 years of soldiering—and something I hope never to see again.
This small group of men have at a stroke trashed the reputation of our forces around the globe.
The backlash may be fearsome. How can we ever win the battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people if we behave like the brutal dictatorship we were sent to remove?
And how can they—or any other population that British troops are entrusted to protect—ever put their faith in us again?
I can only pray this is an isolated incident because it makes a mockery of all the good work and sacrifices our servicemen and women have made in Iraq.
Now they face months, if not years, of increased danger, rebuilding the damage this senseless minority has caused.
And it terrifies me that these men have become so de-sensitised that they can behave like this.
Make no mistake, this incident will be jumped upon by our enemy as a recruiting call for terrorists and will escalate hatred everywhere.
But there is no doubt in my mind that it must be exposed and stamped on, hard. It must never happen again. In the short term things will get a lot tougher for us—this could fuel the fires of insurgency in Iraq and around the world.
But long-term, exposing and stamping out this behaviour is the only way to regain respect and trust for the British Army.
These men must be drummed out, and quickly, before their behaviour can influence others.
I hesitate to call them soldiers —because their actions are so far removed from the exemplary standards we expect of our troops.
They have betrayed their comrades, their training and everything British forces have traditionally stood for—their overriding sense of duty and decency.
In the military we have something called Conduct After Capture—how you should behave if you've been captured and, more importantly, how you conduct yourself with enemy prisoners.
The Geneva Convention—which governs the actions of every single serving British soldier—makes it crystal clear that prisoners deserve humane treatment.
There was an outcry after the first Gulf War at the way Iraq treated our prisoners of war. No one can forget those pictures of our captured fliers, beaten and paraded on TV.
But how can we expect the Iraqis, or anyone else, to treat captured or kidnapped British troops and civilians with dignity now? These aren't even enemy combatants. Even in a hardened society like Iraq they're still children. There is no doubt Iraq is the most dangerous place on Earth right now. And peacekeeping missions are every bit as dangerous and stressful as open war. More British troops have died since the war ended than were killed in action.
In this case a few bad apples have clearly let things get out of hand.
Psychologically the pressure of seeing comrades and friends killed and injured has an enormous impact.
Things have been spiralling out of control in Iraq for some time.
As a young soldier serving out there you are dealing with fear on a daily basis. You don't know when you wake up if it could be your last day on Earth. Roadside bombs, snipers, suicide bombers—these are all daily occurrences. Soldiers are only human so tempers do fray, people get tired and angry. But nobody has the right to react like this—no matter what they've seen or done. That's when the training, discipline and good command should take over.
Here it's gone out of the window and the body language of these soldiers is terrifying because it's so calm and natural.
This was a textbook operation to snatch troublemakers from the crowd—until they enter the compound and the beating starts.
These guys are clearly relaxed—judging by the way they are behaving, they're not expecting to be shot at or bombed. In fact they're so casual it's chilling.
This is something I fear they've experienced before—and the cameraman certainly knows what's going to happen next. When the voiceover tells us, "You're going to get it", he knows what he is talking about. His comments are just sickening, almost sexual, as he revels in the beatings.
His job up there is to observe the crowd, passing information down to the guys on the ground. Instead he's making a home video for his own gratification.
It's a frenzy of gratuitous violence, pure and simple—the vilest and most destructive form of vengeance.
As other members of the team arrive back they stroll past with barely a glance. The clear implication is they've seen this before.
And while they might not be taking part they are as complicit as the men dishing out the beating.
When I was in the SAS during the first Gulf War the lads would go across the border in snatch squads.
But there were NEVER any beatings of PoWs. Even during the hostilities these guys were begging to come HOME with us. That's victory in the vital battle for hearts and minds. We'd won them over and we'd won their respect.
The only thing this horrifying video will win is condemnation from all right-thinking people.
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