Fred West police search Gloucester cafe for Mary Bastholm - BBC News

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Police are searching for a body at a cafe in Gloucester linked to a girl feared to have been murdered by serial killer Fred West.

Mary Bastholm, 15, went missing on 6 January 1968 and has not been found.

Officers were called to The Clean Plate by filmmakers working on a documentary. West was a regular customer when the teenager worked at the cafe.

The film crew told police on Friday they had found evidence that a body could be buried within the property.

Officers could be at the site "for a number of weeks" and excavation work is yet to begin, Gloucestershire Police said.

Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said: "This could be a significant development on a case which has gained a lot of public interest over the years.

"On the basis of the information provided to us, we consider this to be new and potentially important evidence in the case of Mary Bastholm, however further detailed assessments will take place over the following few days to determine the extent of excavation needed.

"First and foremost our thoughts are with Mary's family and we would ask that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."

In a statement released via the force, Miss Bastholm's family said: "We are aware of the ongoing developments around Mary's disappearance and are being kept up to date and supported by Gloucestershire Police family liaison officers.

"At this time please may we ask for privacy so we can grieve for Mary."

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A white tent has been set up outside the building in Southgate Street and officers are stationed at the scene.

The cafe is close to Cromwell Street, where officers found the bodies of West's victims at the home he shared with his wife Rosemary.

A spokesperson for The Nelson Trust, a women's charity that owns The Clean Plate, said: "As soon as we were made aware of the situation, we have done everything we can to accommodate the investigation.

"The Clean Plate will remain closed until all necessary activity is complete. "It is an extraordinary twist of fate that this building, now associated with a story as tragic as that of the victims of Fred and Rosemary West, is part of a charity working to support women at risk from violence."

At the scene

By Andrew Plant, BBC News

Mary Bastholm disappeared at a bus stop on her way to meet her boyfriend.

There has been no trace of her since. It's been a mystery for 53 years.

The cafe has been there for decades and has been under several different names.

One of its waitresses was Mary, who was 15 at the time when Fred West was a regular customer and was known to him.

It was also known he was a builder at the time renovation was needed on the cellar and the toilets at the cafe - work he was believed to have carried out in 1968.

A lot of people locally put two and two together and suggested that perhaps he was responsible for her disappearance and that was where she ended up.

Police say their activity will take place over a number of weeks and there will be disruption for some time.

In 2012, a petition was set up calling for a fresh investigation into Miss Bastholm's disappearance but it was rejected by then Chief Constable Tony Melville.

In 1994, West admitted murdering his daughter Heather.

The confession came as police began to search 25 Cromwell Street, where they found the bodies of nine girls and young women.

He and his wife Rose were jointly charged with nine murders and he was charged with a further three.

West took his own life while awaiting the murder trial the following year.

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2021-05-11 15:27:13Z
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Ballymurphy inquest: 10 innocent people killed without justification, coroner finds - Sky News

Ten people shot dead at Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 1971 were innocent and their deaths were without justification, a coroner has ruled.

Relatives of the nine men and one woman who were killed applauded when Mrs Justice Keegan exonerated them and found there had been a disproportionate use of force.

The coroner attributed nine of the 10 shootings to the British Army, saying there was not enough evidence to determine where the shot that killed the 10th victim, John McKerr, came from.

Image: The people killed at Ballymurphy - including an 11th victim who died later and was not included in the inquest

She ruled out paramilitary involvement by any of those killed, and described them as "entirely innocent of any wrongdoing on the day in question".

Following the ruling, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill described the killings as "British state murder".

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"The victims and the families of the Ballymurphy Massacre have been vindicated and the truth laid bare," she tweeted.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the findings will come as "an immense relief and vindication for the families who have maintained for decades that their loved ones were innocent and their killings unjustified".

He added: "Every family bereaved in the conflict must have access to an effective investigation and to a process of justice regardless of the perpetrator."

The fresh inquests - which began in November 2018 - did not include an 11th victim, Paddy McCarthy, who was shot in the hand at a community centre at Ballymurphy and later died of a heart attack.

Those killed included a Roman Catholic priest, 38-year-old Father Hugh Mullan, and Francis Quinn, 44, who was shot when he went to the churchman's aid.

Image: Where the first six victims were shot at Ballymurphy

Four people died in a second incident - Noel Phillips, 19; Joan Connolly, a 44-year-old mother of eight children; Daniel Teggart, 44, and Joseph Murray, 41.

Edward Doherty, 43, John Laverty, 20, and Joseph Corr, 43, were the last three victims of what residents of the community call "the Ballymurphy massacre".

The shootings occurred over three days in August 1971 during serious civil unrest in Belfast when the government moved to detain IRA suspects without trial.

The British Army reported a gun battle with terrorists at Ballymurphy and while there was evidence of some paramilitary activity, the dead were not armed.

Horrified that they had been labelled terrorists, their families rejected the outcome of an inquest and demanded a fresh one.

In Tuesday's ruling, the coroner said Fr Mullan and Mr Quinn were killed by shots fired by soldiers and that the force used was not justified.

She said she was satisfied both entered the field to assist an injured man.

While the coroner said there was evidence of a small number of IRA gunmen in the wider area on the day, she said this did not apply to the waste ground when the men were shot.

Image: The family of Frank Quinn arrive at the inquest

She said neither man was armed and they were not in the vicinity of someone with a gun.

Mrs Justice Keegan said there was evidence that the priest had been waving a white item, either a handkerchief or T-shirt.

She also rejected a suggestion from the Ministry of Defence that the men may have been shot by a sniper from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) loyalist paramilitary group.

However, the coroner said she had been unable to identify which soldiers fired the fatal shots.

She rejected claims that Mr Doherty had been throwing petrol bombs at the time he was shot, adding: "He was an innocent man who posed no threat."

Image: The scene in Ballymurphy where the shootings happened in August 1971

Mr McKerr, a former soldier, was shot as he took a break from maintenance work and died of his injuries.

Mrs Justice Keegan said he was an entirely innocent man but there was not enough evidence for her to determine where the shot that killed him came from, or whether it was fired by the military or paramilitaries.

She noted that Mr McKerr was a "proud military man" and claims that he was associated with the IRA had caused great pain for his family in the five decades since.

"I can allay that rumour and suspicion once and for all," she said.

Following the ruling, Mrs Connolly's daughter Briege Voyle told Sky News the coroner said "exactly what we knew".

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'My dad can rest now'

"Now the world knows - my mummy was an innocent woman. She wasn't a gunwoman," Ms Voyle said.

"She was an innocent woman who came out of a place of safety to help a child."

Ms Voyle said the "soldiers didn't cooperate with the courts so that meant we're left with a lot of questions".

Mrs Justice Keegan described the inquests as the longest running to date in Northern Ireland.

She said the shootings had been a violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to life protected by law.

The findings mark a watershed moment in a campaign that has lasted nearly half a century.

“Relief and tears”: around 70 victim relatives watched the verdicts from Corpus Christie church in #Ballymurphy. Parish priest Fr Paddy McCafferty says there was “huge relief” and “no ambiguity” over the victims innocence. Mood around Ballymurphy is quiet and somber pic.twitter.com/CUKRiWVCxw

— Stephen Murphy (@SMurphyTV) May 11, 2021

But they come on the very day the government confirmed plans to introduce legislation to address Northern Ireland's past.

That is likely to mean an end to historical prosecutions, an effective amnesty that would apply to both soldiers and terrorists.

Victims on all sides say any statute of limitations on offences before the Good Friday Agreement would deny them justice.

Mrs Voyle told Sky News the British government had been "very disrespectful".

"They're talking about veterans who've had a life - they came here and killed our loved ones and they went home and carried on having a life," she said.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said the coroner's findings were "vindication" of a long campaign by the victims' families.

But she added: "Today will be bittersweet as the British government confirms that they will now attempt to block the families from getting justice, in defiance of an international agreement signed with the Irish government on dealing with the past."

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2021-05-11 14:37:30Z
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The Queen's Speech begins The State Opening of Parliament BBC - BBC

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2021-05-11 11:27:20Z
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Julia James death: Man charged with murder of police community support officer appears in court - Sky News

A 21-year-old man charged with the murder of police community support officer Julia James in Kent has appeared in court.

Callum Wheeler, from Aylesham, appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

He spoke only to confirm name and address and was remanded in custody to appear at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday.

The body of Ms James was discovered in Akholt Wood near her home in Snowdown on 27 April.

Kent Police arrested Wheeler on Friday evening.

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Image: In this image released by police, Ms James was wearing the same clothes as the ones in this picture when she died

Assistant Chief Constable Tom Richards said police are not "actively" seeking any further suspects in connection with her death.

"Today we continue to appeal for witnesses. I am confident that there were people in the area at the time that we want to speak to," he said.

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"I have no information to suggest at this stage that anyone else involved in this offence.

"We are not at this stage looking actively to make any further arrests."

Last week, police issued an image of Ms James in the clothes she was wearing before she was killed.

The picture showed her in a light blue waterproof coat, blue jeans and dark Wellington-style brown boots, as she walked her Jack Russell.

Police said it was the same clothing, apart from the gloves, which she wore on the day she died.

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2021-05-11 09:32:37Z
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Exclusive: Government to ban conversion therapy in Queen's Speech - ITV News

The government will announce a ban on so-called conversion therapy in tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech, ITV News understands.

The long-awaited ban comes three years after the then-prime minister Theresa May first promised to end the practice in an interview with ITV News in 2018.

The exact details of the scope of the ban are still being worked out with further consultation likely, including on how to protect religious freedoms and certain professions such as teachers.

But campaigners are keen to ensure the ban covers spiritual guidance which attempts to change or suppress someone’s sexuality or gender identity. The government is expected to pass the law within the next year.

ITV News understands that Boris Johnson - who banned adverts for conversion therapy on the underground as Mayor of London - had made outlawing the practice a personal priority.

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The news will be welcomed by a broad range of stakeholders from Conservative MPs to the LGBT+ campaign Stonewall, who have been lobbying the government.

There was concern in March that the promised ban would be dropped, with the equalities adviser Jayne Ozanne resigning from her role over the issue, followed by two other members of the government’s LGBT+ advisory panel.

On the planned ban, Ms Ozanne told ITV News: "Whilst I warmly welcome the news that there is finally to be a ban, I am concerned that we are going to have yet more consultation.

"The government simply need to protect the lives of all LGBT people by doing what the UN has advised and banning all forms of conversion therapy, including religious practices.

"They have consulted long enough, now it is time to act and bring forward legislation that protects everyone from this inhumane and degrading abuse."

Since 2018, the government has been promising to ban the practice, with Ms May being the first to pledge action after describing the "therapy" as "abhorrent".

In July 2020, Prime Minister Johnson also promised to ban conversion therapy, but the resignation of equality adviser Ms Ozanne turned up pressure on the government to act.

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She told ITV News the government was creating a "hostile environment for LGBT people", accusing ministers of being "ignorant" about the issues affecting the community.

Mr Johnson has previously said ending conversion therapy is “technically complex” but insisted that ministers will “stamp it out” after three equality advisers quit in total.Some Christians and Conservative MPs have lobbied the government to make allowances for religious freedoms, but campaigners say only a complete ban will ensure the safety of vulnerable people who often consent to conversion therapy without realising the damage it does.

The Evangelical Alliance wrote to Mr Johnson in March warning that in their view, a ban on conversion therapy could "place church leaders at risk of prosecution when they preach on biblical texts relating to marriage and sexuality".

In 2018, ITV News investigated Winners Chapel, which told our undercover reporter that his homosexuality was caused by the devil and prayer could help him to overcome it.

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Watch ITV News' undercover investigation:

According to Stonewall, conversion therapy refers to "any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or to suppress a person’s gender identity.

"It is based on an assumption that being lesbian, gay, bi or trans is a mental illness that can be ‘cured’. These therapies are both unethical and harmful."

Campaigners want a ban to cover all forms of conversion therapy involving spiritual therapies and religious prayer.

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2021-05-10 21:58:41Z
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London elections 2021: Record number of mayoral votes rejected - BBC News

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A "confusing" ballot paper is being blamed for a record number of rejected votes in the mayor of London election.

About 114,000 first preference votes were rejected in Thursday's election, which saw Sadiq Khan win a second term, double the previous record.

The mayor of London is elected using a supplementary vote system, under which each voter can choose a first and second preference.

Officials said the system is known to "result in spoilt ballot papers".

Mary Harpley, who as Greater London Returning Officer was in charge of running the mayoral election, said: "The record number of 20 mayoral candidates in 2021 made it necessary to split the mayoral ballot paper into two sections.

"In order to help London's voters this year, we published clear 'how to vote' information in the booklet sent to every registered voter."

The government is currently looking to change the voting system for the mayor of London to first past the post.

Roughly 5% of this year's first preference votes were rejected.

A modern browser with JavaScript and a stable internet connection is required to view this interactive. More information about these elections

Who won in my area?

Enter your postcode, or the name of your English council or Scottish or Welsh constituency to find out. Eg 'W1A 1AA' or 'Westminster'

A really simple guide to the 2021 elections

Note: This lookup covers national elections in Scotland and Wales, the Hartlepool by-election, as well as council and mayoral elections in England and Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections in England and Wales. There may be parish council elections or council by-elections where you are. Check your local council website for full details. Last updated: May 10, 2021, 07:25 GMT

The previous record was in the 2004 mayoral election, when 56,874 first preference votes were rejected, roughly 3% of the total votes that year.

Official figures show 87,214 ballots out of the 114,000 were rejected this year because people tried to vote for more than one candidate in the first preference column.

Constituencies with the highest number of rejected ballots were Ealing and Hillingdon, Brent and Harrow and City and East.

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Professor Tony Travers, from the LSE Department of Government, said: "We already knew from previous elections that many people find the two preference opportunity in this election confusing.

"Nobody knows for sure why there's been an increased number of rejected ballots, we need to wait for a review.

"But there is a correlation between the increase in the number of people on the ballot paper and the number of people voting more than once.

"The whole purpose of voting is that everybody knows that their vote counts equally - that's how the system works.

"A large number of rejected ballots could have huge consequences. Imagine if this race had been very, very tight."

Mr Khan was re-elected to the mayor's office with a 228,000-vote majority.

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2021-05-10 05:18:26Z
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Scottish independence referendum: Nicola Sturgeon tells Boris Johnson new vote is 'when, not if' - Sky News

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has told the prime minister it is a "matter of when, not if" there will be another vote on Scottish independence.

Her party narrowly failed to win a majority in this week's Scottish Parliament elections, but with the Greens there is a pro-independence majority in Holyrood.

In a call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday, she said another referendum on Scotland breaking away from the UK was now inevitable once COVID recovery was on track.

Her spokesman said: "The first minister made clear that her immediate focus was on steering the country through COVID and into recovery, and that a newly elected Scottish government would work with the UK government as far as possible on that aim.

"The first minister also reiterated her intention to ensure that the people of Scotland can choose our own future when the crisis is over, and made clear that the question of a referendum is now a matter of when, not if."

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The SNP has vowed to introduce legislation for another vote, but this could be challenged by the UK government in court.

A Downing Street statement on the call made no reference to the prospect of another referendum.

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Is there an appetite for indyref2?

It said the PM had congratulated Ms Sturgeon on securing "the largest number of seats in the Scottish Parliament" and "concluded by emphasising the importance of focusing on COVID recovery at this time".

Mr Johnson has invited her and the leaders of the devolved administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland to a summit on the recovering from the pandemic.

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove also refused to be drawn on the prospects of a repeat of the 2014 vote during interviews on Sunday.

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People of Scotland 'have right' to another vote

Appearing on Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday, the cabinet minister said the SNP's demand for another vote revealed a "skewed set of priorities" while the UK concentrates on COVID recovery.

Asked if the UK government would seek to block a second border poll in the courts, Mr Gove told Ridge: "No, we're not even going there at the moment."

He added: "To start speculating about this type of legislation or that type of court hearing and all the rest of it, it's just a massive distraction.

"I'm not interested in going down that blind alley."

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Gove refuses to say if govt would back independence vote

Scots voted against independence by 55% to 45% in the 2014 vote, which was meant to be a once in a generation event.

But SNP supporters argue that circumstances have changed dramatically due to the Westminster decision to hold the Brexit vote, which pulled Scotland and the rest of the UK out of the EU.

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2021-05-09 20:25:58Z
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