Babak Belurs

Rabu, 24 Mei 2023

Cardiff riots: Killed teenagers not chased, says police boss - BBC

By Jack Grey

BBC News

Two teenagers who died in an electric bike crash in Cardiff, sparking riots, were not being chased by officers when they crashed, a police boss has said.

Alun Michael, South Wales' police and crime commissioner, has insisted the "youths were not being chased".

Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, died in the crash on Snowden Road, Ely, shortly after 18:00 BST on Monday.

CCTV footage shows a police van following a bike about half a mile from the crash site just minutes earlier.

"I was assured, and I am still assured, that the youths were not being chased by the police at the time of the road traffic accident," Mr Michael told Radio Wales Breakfast on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Mr Michael said: "It would appear that there were rumours, and those rumours became rife, of a police chase - which wasn't the case."

The deaths sparked a riot in Ely which saw cars set alight, fireworks thrown at police and 15 officers injured.

Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15

After the CCTV footage circulated, South Wales Police said it was "studying" the video and police vehicle tracking data, adding there were "no police vehicles on Snowden Road" at the time of the crash.

The CCTV footage, which has been analysed by BBC Verify, is time-stamped to 17:59 on Monday on Frank Road.

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Mr Michael has denied being misinformed when he previously claimed that no police chase had occurred.

"What happened was footage emerged of something that happened a short time before the road traffic accident, and that too needs to be investigated," he said.

"That was not available to the police or to me at the time when we responded to the first thing that happened, which was a road traffic accident."

Mr Michael claimed the CCTV footage was filmed five minutes before the crash occurred.

"There was no police vehicle in the road where the crash happened. There was a police van in another street and the police were called quickly to the accident and conducted CPR," he added.

"That is being investigated as well and the matter is being referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) so anything that comes in needs to be investigated fully so we have the full picture."

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Vicar at the Church of the Resurrection in Ely, Canon Jan Gould, said there was a lot of "anxiety" in the suburb on Tuesday night that the area would see a repeat of the disorder that occurred on Monday.

"It was a peaceful night and we just have to hope and pray that that carries on and this sense of calm is maintained," she said.

"We can't even begin to imagine the pain and the grief that [the family of Kyrees and Harvey] will be felling at the loss of those boys and our thoughts and our prayers are with them," Canon Gould said.

She added it was "absolutely 100% vital" communication between the police and the community was handled properly.

"This is a very difficult community for the police to work in, we have some people in our community here that are very antagonistic toward police… a police presence anywhere will wind them up.

"But we also have a very large part of our community that are very reassured by police presence, so the police are treading this very fine line between these two different groups trying to maintain order."

Following the crash about 100 to 150 people gathered in Ely and at about 20:00 the force tweeted that it was working to "de-escalate" disorder.

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The force said it had received a large number of calls from "understandably frightened" residents.

During the disorder, 15 officers were injured and 11 were taken to hospital, according the force.

Following the incident, First Minister Mark Drakeford - whose Cardiff West constituency includes Ely - said he was "very concerned" by the "upsetting reports".

Labour MP Kevin Brennan, who represents the Cardiff West constituency in the UK parliament, said on Tuesday it was "highly unfortunate" that the information initially provided by the police appears not to have been "entirely correct".

"It's important, if we're going to have trust and confidence between the community [and] the local police force… there has to be openness and clarity," added Mr Brennan.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said what had happened was "appalling and completely unacceptable".

Police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has said it is sending investigators to assess "whether the IOPC will carry out an independent investigation".

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2023-05-24 08:40:55Z
2055630817

Civil servants couldn't 'sit' on Boris Johnson documents, says Cabinet Minister - Evening Standard

ivil servants would have come under fire if they had “sat” on documents which they passed to police about more alleged lockdown breaches by Boris Johnson, a Cabinet minister said on Wednesday.

But Justice Secretary Alex Chalk also stopped short of rejecting allegations of a Civil Service “stitch-up” against the ex-PM, as claimed by his allies.

Speaking on LBC Radio, said: “There is a Covid inquiry taking place.

“In the course of that, documentation has to be scrubbed or reviewed by lawyers to ensure it can be disclosed in the normal way.

“Material came to light which was passed to the Civil Service.

“The Civil Service considered that in accordance with their code and with no ministerial intervention, I want to make that absolutely clear, that was then passed to the police.

“From the Civil Service’s point of view if they had sat on it and suppressed it, people would have criticised them, if they passed it on that will raise questions as well.

“Ultimately, whether it was the right judgement to do it turns on what is in those documents and I’ve not seen those documents so it’s very difficult to make a judgement.

“So, I’m afraid this has just got to take its course in the normal way.”

Pressed earlier on GB NEws on whether he accepted that it was a stitch-up by the Civil Service, as claimed by Mr Johnson’s allies, he explained: “It’s not a question of not accepting it.

“It’s simply I can’t reach a view either way.

“What will have happened is the material will have been passed to the Civil Service.

“Once they have seen it, they can’t unsee it so they have got to make a decision in accordance with the Civil Service code, whether to sit on it, whether to suppress it, and no doubt someone would criticise them for that, or whether to pass it to police.

“But the decision about whether that was the right or the wrong thing will be determined by what was in it, what the documents said.

“We just have to play it’s course.”

Mr Johnson has been reported to the police by the Cabinet Office over fresh claims that he may have broken lockdown rules during the pandemic.

Information has been passed to two forces over alleged visits from the former prime minister’s friends to Chequers as well as potential breaches within Downing Street, The Times reported.

The Metropolitan Police said it was “currently assessing” details it had received relating to incidents between June 2020 and May 2021.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “Some abbreviated entries in Mr Johnson’s official diary were queried by Cabinet Office during preparation for the Covid inquiry.

“Following an examination of the entries, Mr Johnson’s lawyers wrote to the Cabinet Office and Privileges Committee explaining that the events were lawful and were not breaches of any Covid regulations.”

It was also suggested the move was “politically motivated” and the former prime minister had been given no notice of the report.

The Cabinet Office said: “Information came to light during the process of preparing evidence for submission to the Covid inquiry.

“It was identified as part of the normal disclosure review of potentially relevant documents being undertaken by the legal team for inquiry witnesses.

“In line with obligations in the Civil Service Code, this material has been passed to the relevant authorities and it is now a matter for them.”

The Metropolitan Police said: “We are in receipt of information from the Cabinet Office passed to us on May 19 2023, which we are currently assessing. It relates to potential breaches of the health protection regulations between June 2020 and May 2021 at Downing Street.”

In a statement given to The Times, Thames Valley Police also confirmed they were looking into a report of potential breaches of the rules at Chequers.

They told the paper: “On Thursday we received a report of potential breaches of the health protection regulations between June 2020 and May 2021 at Chequers, Buckinghamshire. We are currently assessing this information.”

It comes as the Commons privileges committee investigates whether Mr Johnson misled Parliament over lockdown-breaking at No10.

The committee is due to report next month. If it recommends suspending the prime minister for more than 10 days he could face a by-election for his west London seat.

Labour called for taxpayer-funded legal support for Mr Johnson’s participation in the partygate inquiry to come to an end and said he had “serious questions to answer".

“I just believe it's wrong that the taxpayer is continuing to fund Boris Johnson's legal defence here. Rishi Sunak should bring that to an end," shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said.

The Government's bill for Mr Johnson's legal fees in the committee’s investigation is an estimated £222,000.

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2023-05-24 07:38:48Z
2058364973

UK inflation falls to 8.7% but food prices remain stubbornly high - Financial Times

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2023-05-24 07:11:57Z
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Selasa, 23 Mei 2023

Two boys killed in Cardiff crash which was followed by riot are named - Sky News

Two teenagers who were killed in a crash in Cardiff which was followed by a riot have been named by a close relative of one of the boys.

Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and 15-year-old Harvey Evans, were riding an electric bike when they were involved in a collision on Monday night.

Disorder broke out after the crash on Snowden Road in the Ely area of the city, with fireworks and other missiles thrown at a line of police officers with riot shields who were blocking one end of the street.

A helicopter hovered overhead during the riot as at least two cars were set alight.

Harvey's godmother Jenny Sampson, who confirmed the identities of the two boys to Sky News, said the disorder broke out because police wouldn't let their parents get close to the crash scene.

She said: "Basically we were all at the scene, the police were just having none of it, they wouldn't let the mums, the dads come up and see their own kids laying on the floor.

"They wouldn't let [the parents] do nothing, it was disgusting how they treated them, and they made them walk home and give them the news in the house, didn't give them any sort of news at the scene, we were there for hours waiting and waiting and they still wouldn't let them through to see if their son was OK."

Asked what caused the rioting, Ms Sampson said: "The police, how bad the police treated everybody, you can't treat families like that... With two young kids laying on the floor, and their own family couldn't even get to them, they couldn't even see their own son's last breaths, it's wrong and it's disgusting."

She added: "They were telling everybody to go away and you can't do that... We were all standing there for about two to three hours before anyone had any information.

"It was really, really bad."

Ms Sampson said she is still unclear what caused the crash but described Harvey as an "amazing and bubbly guy" who was "always happy, always on the go".

"He liked bikes, he liked scooters... Both of them, that was just their life of liking stuff like that."

South Wales Police said it was investigating the "serious road traffic collision and scenes of violent disorder" which broke out in the residential area.

One person was attacked because rioters thought they were an undercover officer, according to a senior officer at the scene.

Police, including mounted officers on horseback, were seen outside Ely police station in the early hours of Tuesday after suggestions it could be targeted.

Shortly before 3am, rioters moved down Highmead Road in Ely, followed by police officers trying to disperse them.

The rioters continued to throw missiles and set cars alight.

Rubbish and wheelie bins were set alight by rioters as they were moved through the streets by armoured police.

Jane Palmer, owner of a burnt out Ford Focus on Highmead Road, said she and her family had watched from their window as rioters set fire to her car.

Ms Palmer said: "I'm disabled, so now I'm trapped without my car.

"Why are they doing this? It's just silly now."

The family had tried to stop the fire using water from their garden hose.

Connor, who also lives in Highmead Road, said: "It has been a mad night.

"This is not the norm around here but people are pretty anti-police and that's reflected on both sides, not that that's my opinion.

"Although we've been afflicted by this riot, I still understand it. When people have enough, this is what happens."

Canon Jan Gould, the vicar at a local church in Ely told Sky News that the loss of the two young boys is "awful".

"It's a tragedy, you can't imagine what those families are feeling today," she said.

"Just to lose young people in that way is awful."

Canon Gould has lived in the area for 17 years and said scenes of riots in the hours after the collision were "absolutely shocking".

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Travis said: "We received a large number of calls from residents who were understandably frightened by the actions of this large group who were intent on causing crime and disorder.

"The level of violence towards emergency services and the damage to property and vehicles was totally unacceptable.

"Our focus now is to fully investigate the circumstances of the collision and the appalling scenes that followed.

"Arrests have already been made in connection with the disorder and more will follow. We shall be maintaining an enhanced police presence throughout the week and into the weekend."

Canon Jan Gould, the vicar at a local church in Ely told Sky News that the loss of the two young boys is "awful".

"It's a tragedy, you can't imagine what those families are feeling today," she said.

"Just to lose young people in that way is awful."

Canon Gould has lived in the area for 17 years and said scenes of riots in the hours after the collision were "absolutely shocking".

Meanwhile, Cardiff Council's leader called for calm after the disorder and said it is "really important" a full investigation into the crash can take place.

Councillor Huw Thomas said: "For that to happen we need calm. Any continuation of last night's trouble will only hamper any investigation.

"It's important we all come together, and work together now, to find out exactly what happened. I urge everyone to do all they can to calm the situation."

At 8.21pm, South Wales Police said it had a "large number of officers working to manage the collision, but also to de-escalate ongoing disorder at the scene".

At 1.10am, they said a "large police presence" remained in the area, confirming that vehicles had been set on fire and people had been arrested.

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2023-05-23 14:03:45Z
2055630817

Senin, 22 Mei 2023

Ely: Two teenagers dead amid Cardiff crash disorder - BBC

A car burns amid disorder in the Cardiff district of Ely

By Christy Cooney & Jared Evitts & Tomos Morgan

BBC News

Two people are understood to have died in an incident which led to widespread disorder near the scene of a crash in Cardiff.

South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael told BBC Radio Wales he understood the two who had died were teenagers.

Cars were set alight and objects thrown at police near the scene of the crash in Ely.

The events that led to the disorder remain unclear.

Riot police with dogs joined emergency services on Snowden Road on Monday evening after 100-150 people gathered.

Some of those gathered wore balaclavas while others were seen breaking up paving slabs to hurl at officers.

Videos on social media also showed fireworks being thrown at police.

Police said arrests had been made but did not give a figure.

South Wales Police said that, shortly after 18:00 BST, officers responded to a report of a "serious road traffic collision" on Snowden Road.

Riot police at the scene of disorder in the district of Ely in Cardiff

Following speculation on social media that police had been involved in the original incident, the force said the crash "had already occurred when officers arrived".

Two police cars were damaged in the disorder, with pictures showing one with its windscreen broken and its wing mirrors hanging off.

A member of the public was also attacked because some of those gathered thought they were an undercover police officer, according to one of the senior officers at the scene.

At least two parked cars were set alight, one of them after being tipped onto its roof.

On Tuesday morning, paving stones and pipes could be seen strewn across the street.

Other parked cars had had windows smashed, while a child's car seat lay in ruins on the road.

Snowden Road has been closed between Wilson Road and Jackson Road and drivers have been asked to avoid the area.

John Urquhart, who lives in Ely, witnessed the incident escalate from the start of the evening.

He said the vast majority of people were in the street because they "wanted to know what would happen next", and added that there was "a very small number of people actually doing any sort of violence."

Mr Urquhart said he was very "counter-violence" and offered first aid to people during the evening.

In a tweet at 01:10 BST, police said they were "continuing to monitor and respond" to the situation and that a "large police presence remains in the area".

As the disorder continued into the early hours of the morning, those gathered moved down nearby Highmead Road as police attempted to disperse them.

Police, including officers on horseback, were seen outside Ely police station amid suggestions that it could be targeted.

The National Police Air Service also said it had assisted with the incident.

'Crossed a line'

Jane Palmer said she and her family watched from a window as people outside set fire to her car.

"I'm disabled so now I'm trapped without my car," she said.

"Why are they doing this? It's just silly now."

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said those behind the violence were "kids", and that it had "crossed a line" and "needs to stop".

Snowden Road with people and police cars including one with a smashed window

In an earlier post, police urged "anyone involved [in the disorder] to leave the scene immediately" and asked local residents to "stay away while the matter is brought to a safe conclusion".

"We need to ensure that this evening's collision is effectively investigated," they said.

They also asked local residents to remain indoors.

Cardiff Bus said earlier that a service it runs through the area had been re-routed and would remain so for the rest of the evening.

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2023-05-23 06:36:25Z
2055630817

Search of reservoir by police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance to begin - Sky News

The search of a reservoir by police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will begin this morning.

Officers will begin working within hours at the Arade dam, which is located about 31 miles (50km) from where the British toddler went missing in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, 16 years ago.

British police will also be present during the search, according to Portuguese media reports.

Vehicles and officers were seen at the site of the reservoir on Monday after reports of the new search emerged.

The investigation of the site reportedly comes at the request of German police, who announced in June 2020 that they believed Madeleine was dead and that suspect Christian B was likely responsible.

It is claimed the convicted child abuser and drug dealer used to visit the reservoir.

Christian B is currently in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region from where Madeleine went missing, but has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance.

He has always denied any involvement.

The waterway was previously searched in 2008 after Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to check the site.

He claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine's body was in the reservoir, but nothing was found.

A search was also carried out in 2014 of scrubland near where she vanished, after British police were given permission to investigate by Portuguese authorities.

A German court last month threw out additional rape and sexual offence charges against Christian B that were not linked to the McCann case.

He had been accused of three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017.

However, the court in Braunschweig ruled it had no jurisdiction in the case.

Lawyer Friedrich Fulscher said the decision meant court authorities could not have jurisdiction over any potential case about Madeleine either. The court did not comment on his claim.

Madeleine was three years old when she went missing in 2007 during a holiday with her family.

Last year, on the 15th anniversary of her disappearance, Madeleine's parents said it was "essential" to learn the truth of what happened to their daughter.

Kate and Gerry McCann also marked Madeleine's 20th birthday earlier this month with a vow that they would "never give up" the search for her.

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2023-05-23 05:38:36Z
2054240803

Labour wants NHS to tackle heart and suicide deaths - BBC

By Sean Seddon

BBC News

Sir Keir Starmer is to propose introducing new NHS targets on cutting deaths in England from heart disease, strokes and suicide.

A Labour government would aim to reduce deaths from heart disease and strokes by a quarter over 10 years and see suicide figures decline within five.

The Labour leader is giving a speech on the party's NHS policy later.

The Tories accused Labour of seeking to frustrate its own reforms by repeatedly voting against them.

Labour's new targets for the health service will be part of a wider package of reforms if it is elected, Sir Keir will say, with a focus on modernisation, hitting existing cancer targets, and cutting waiting lists.

The NHS Confederation says the health service in England is facing a £6-7bn funding gap for 2023/24.

When asked how much money Labour would need to reform the NHS, Sir Keir told the BBC his party would fund an increase in health workers by ending certain tax breaks, including the non-dom status.

In terms of the overall NHS budget, Sir Keir said Labour would set out its funding plans ahead of the next general election. "But I'm keen to emphasise, it's change and reform, not just money," Sir Keir said.

Sir Keir also said Labour would ban commercials for junk and sugary food before 21:00, as well as adverts for vaping products.

"The government has toyed with this and has backed off. I think this is the wrong thing as we have to protect the health of our young people and that requires us to put in place pretty solid bans on advertising to children and that's what we would be prepared to do," he said.

He is expected to call for three "big shifts" in approach for the NHS, promoting digital methods, community care and preventative measures.

He will say it is "not serious" to argue the health service's problems can be solved with extra funding, and call for "serious, deep, long-term changes".

More than 5,500 deaths were registered as suicides in England and Wales in 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - around three quarters of which were men. Women under the age of 24 have seen the largest increase of any group since data started being collected in 1981, an ONS study found in 2022.

Sir Keir is expected to tell an audience in the east of England that suicide rates among young people "should haunt us", adding: "Our mission must be and will be: to get it down."

The party also wants existing NHS targets to be tackled - for example the aim for 85% of cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral. This has not been achieved since 2015.

Sir Keir said his party would aim to meet existing targets on hospital treatment within the first term of a Labour government, but admitted the reforms "will take a bit longer".

Tackling waiting times, more care in the community and greater use of technology are proposals that have been raised by Labour, Conservatives and the Lib Dems over the last decade or so.

A Conservative Party source said cutting waiting times is one of the government's top five priorities, and that there had already been major progress on reducing very long waits.

They accused Labour of voting "against Conservative plans for more doctors" and said it was prioritising the hiring of thousands more NHS managers.

"If Labour were serious about NHS reform they would have taken action where they are in power in Wales where waiting lists are higher," they added.

Sir Keir's speech on Monday will be his third on Labour's five "missions" for government if it wins power, the areas which are likely to form the backbone of the party's manifesto at the next general election.

It came after Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, highlighted the party's aim to give people a greater choice over where they receive hospital treatment.

He told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Labour's plan for regional waiting lists would give patients more flexibility to receive care elsewhere if queues are shorter in another area.

If you've been affected by self-harm or emotional distress, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line