The Daily Telegraph - 01.08.2019

(C. Jardin) #1

2 ***^ Thursday 1 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph


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Severn Bridge motorway
services ‘least popular’

A motorway service area overlooking
the Severn Bridge has been ranked the
least popular in England.
Severn View services on the M48 in
Gloucestershire scored a customer
satisfaction rating of just 72 per cent
in a survey by watchdog Transport
Focus. Most popular was Norton
Canes services on the M6 Toll in
Staffordshire, which topped the
ranking at 99 per cent.
The second lowest-ranked service
area was Burtonwood on the M62 in
Cheshire, followed by Cullompton on
the M5, Frankley southbound, also on
the M5, and Charnock Richard
southbound on the M6.

NEWS BULLETIN


Met to pay £414,000 to
men in axe murder case

The Metropolitan Police has been
ordered to pay three men a total of
£414,000 after a corrupt officer tried
to frame them for the 1987 axe murder
of Daniel Morgan in Sydenham,
south-east London.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the
damages would “highlight and
condemn the egregious and shameful
behaviour” of Det Chief Supt David
Cook. There were no witnesses, but
Jonathan Rees, Glenn and Garry Vian
were charged with murder in 2008.
They spent two years in jail, but the
case collapsed in 2011 after it emerged
a witness was “coached” by Cook.

Lawyers died on Alpine
slope with avalanche risk
Two Barclays Bank lawyers killed by
an avalanche had gone skiing on a
marked route, their spouses told an
inquest yesterday, as they disputed
the claims of the Italian authorities.
Matt Ziegler, 43, and Katherine
Clarke, 39, were crushed by snow on
an Alpine slope with a “considerable”
avalanche risk, a court heard.
Early reports from the Italian
authorities said the pair were skiing
“off-piste”. But this was disputed by
Victoria Ziegler and James Clarke-
Sullivan, at St Pancras Coroner’s Court.
Mary Hassell, senior coroner, recorded
a determination of accidental death.

Man released after septic


tank murder arrest


College goes bust after


losing 2,000 students


An 86-year-old man arrested on
suspicion of murder in connection
with the discovery of human remains
in a septic tank has been released
under investigation.
Detectives believe the remains are
those of farmer’s wife Brenda Venables,
who disappeared in 1982. Mrs Venables,
48, was reported missing from the
couple’s then home in Bestmans Lane,
Kempsey, by her husband, David.
A West Mercia Police spokesman
said: “Police investigating the discovery
of female human remains in Kempsey,
Worcestershire, on Friday July 12 have
released a man under investigation.”

One of England’s biggest private
colleges has gone bust after losing
2,000 students in a year.
GSM London, previously known as
Greenwich School of Management,
said it has gone into administration
and will stop teaching at the end of
this academic year, leaving all of its
274 staff at risk of redundancy.
The higher education watchdog, the
Office for Students, said that in 2017-
the college had 5,440 students, with
the latest figures showing 3,500.
GSM London said a “student
protection plan” was in place, aimed at
minimising disruption to studies.

Police search homes in


university bribery case
Police have searched several homes as
part of an investigation into alleged
bribery relating to the dismissal of
Swansea University’s vice-chancellor.
Officers entered eight properties in
operations across Swansea,
Carmarthenshire and Kent, but no
arrests were made.
The search warrants were executed
after Swansea University complained
to the Serious Fraud Office in late 2018.
Prof Richard B Davies, the
university’s vice-chancellor, and Prof
Marc Clement were fired for gross
misconduct earlier this week. They
deny any wrongdoing.

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By Jack Hardy


THE notorious Isil killer known as
Jihadi John murdered at least 27 hos-
tages, British authorities concluded as
they issued an arrest warrant 10
months before his death in Syria.
Mohammed Emwazi shot to global
infamy when he appeared in a string of
barbaric videos released by the terror
group while it swept across Iraq and
Syria in 2014 and 2015.
He was the leader of the so-called
“Beatles” cell – named after their
distinctive British accents – which
guarded Western hostages in Isil’s self-
proclaimed caliphate.
Two other members of the group,
Alexanda Kotey and El-Shafee
Elsheikh, are currently being held by
Kurdish forces in Syria, facing trial and
possible execution in the US.
Now, a previously unseen document
obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveals
the criminal charges British prosecu-
tors secretly prepared against two of
the four executioners.
It shows Emwazi was charged in
November 2014 with 27 offences of
murder and five offences of hostage-
taking – with an arrest warrant issued
on Jan 28 2015.
This would have allowed prosecu-
tors to bring the west London jihadist
before a British court if he had been de-
tained in a country from which he
could have been legally extradited.
By this time, Jihadi John was one of
the world’s most wanted men, having
taunted the West in horrifying footage
of beheadings. He was eventually killed
in a joint US-British air strike in Raqqa
on Nov 12 2015.
The document, compiled by the Di-
rector of Public Prosecutions in response
to a legal challenge against the Crown
Prosecution Service by the mother of
Elsheikh, said: “Mohammed Emwazi
was killed in November 2015 and there-
fore has never been prosecuted.”
Details of the criminal case prepared
against Kotey in January 2016 emerged
earlier this week, as a separate legal
challenge by Maha Elgizouli reached
the Supreme Court. An arrest warrant
was issued for the suspected Isil fighter
on five counts of murder and eight
counts of hostage-taking in February
2016, a hearing was told on Tuesday.
Prosecutors have never charged
Elsheikh, but agree there may be
enough evidence to prosecute him for
membership of Isil over comments
made in recent media interviews.


Evidence on


Isil ‘Beatles’


may still lead


to prosecution


Armed forces aiming for more flexibility as


they band together against cyber warfare


Continued from Page 1
constant operations. Our posture must
move from reactive to proactive; our
approach from passive to assertive.”
In a flag-raising ceremony today in
Upavon, Wilts, the Army’s Force
Troops Command, an amalgam of lo-
gistic and intelligence units, will be re-
structured to form 6 Div. The head of
Force Troops Command, Major Gen-
eral James Bowder, will be in charge.
Consisting of the 1st and 11th Signal
Brigades, 77 Information Operation
Brigade, 1st Intelligence Surveillance
and Reconnaissance Brigade and the
Specialised Infantry Group, 6 Div will


be capable of delivering offensive
cyber attacks as well as deploying
soldiers to train and mentor Allied mili-
tary forces in both cyber techniques
and traditional infantry skills.
To attract “tech-savvy” cyber and
social media specialists, The Daily Tele-
graph understands the Army is looking
to change the way soldiers’ careers are
managed. Posting cycles may be ad-
justed to allow personnel to continue
to serve in specialised roles beyond the
usual two or three-year cycle, reflect-
ing the desire from recruits for more
flexible careers than their forebears.
Young recruits also want to be able to

change units and even move from one
service to another. Better use of reserv-
ists is also thought to be under consid-
eration. And rather than having
specialists in social media platforms
such as Twitter and Instagram from the
ranks, service chiefs are thought to be
considering employing talent from the
civilian workforce. Pay, contracts and
fitness standards will need to be
worked out for attached civilians.
Talent may also be drawn from
recent service leavers, although The
Telegraph understands details such as
revised pension entitlements and tax li-
abilities are yet to be fully explored.

News


Met ‘has had long enough’ to publish Beech report


Continued from Page 1
Secretary, and Harvey Proctor, the
former Tory MP.
But the investigation collapsed
without a single arrest and Beech was
charged with perverting the course of
justice for inventing his claims.
The Met asked Sir Richard, a retired
High Court judge, to conduct a thor-
ough review into its handling of the in-
vestigation, and a heavily redacted
version of his report was published on
the day of the US election in 2016.
Last week, Beech was jailed for 18
years and Lord Bramall, Lady Brittan
and Mr Proctor, the principal victims of
his lies, have since called for Sir Rich-
ard’s full report to be made public.
But in a statement last night,
Scotland Yard suggested doing so could
breach data protection laws and also
help other criminals escape justice.
A spokesman said: “Our considerations


regarding publication include whether
each of the numerous pieces of
personal information contained within
the report are suitable for publication
or continues to fall within the protec-
tions afforded to individuals by the
Data Protection Act, GDPR or the
Sexual Offences Amendments Act.
“We are also considering whether
any descriptions of covert police
methodology and tactics could assist
criminals to evade justice ... addition-
ally some of the material in the report is
subject to legal privilege.”
But speaking to The Daily Telegraph,
Sir Richard said there was nothing he
could think of in the report that could
possibly jeopardise police tactics.
He said: “I am racking my brains
trying to think of what possible covert
methodology they are referring to.
There were no secret bugs or under-
cover officers. If you consider the

length of time between the alleged
offences and the investigation, it was
more than 30 years, what possible cov-
ert tactics could they be talking about?
“There may be some areas that
would need to be taken out because I

looked at a number of other investiga-
tions and some information is not in
the public domain, but that only consti-
tuted a tiny proportion of the ... report.”
Earlier this week Sir Richard
suggested that some of the officers
involved in Operation Midland could

have broken the law when they applied
for warrants to search homes.
The former lawyer, who prosecuted
the serial killer Harold Shipman and
the boys who murdered the toddler
James Bulger, said he believed the de-
tectives had misled a district judge
when applying for the warrants, be-
cause they insisted Beech’s testimony
had been consistent, when it had not.
His criticism of the officers’ role in
obtaining the search warrants was one
of 43 mistakes he identified. But so far
only around 20 per cent of his findings
have been put into the public domain.
A Met spokesman confirmed that the
force was considering whether more of
the report could now be published, but
said they had to balance a number of
legal and moral issues and no final
decision had yet been made.
The spokesman said: “The report in-
cludes some very graphic allegations of

sexual abuse. Whilst we recognise
some of these are in the public domain
already we are also mindful that, as
these are now known to be false allega-
tions, we would need to consult with
the parties affected before publication.
“We are not considering withhold-
ing any material because it may be
embarrassing or critical of the MPS.
“No decisions on final redactions
have been made and as indicated we
will need to consult with affected
parties so that they can make their
representation to us.”
But Sir Richard said decisions on
what to release should have already
been made and timed to coincide with
the end of Beech’s trial.
He said: “They have had the report
for long enough and really ought to
have been ready. So much of the mate-
rial was made public at the trial ... there
really should not be further delays.”

Movie magic Joe Pesci, left, and Robert De Niro appear in the first trailer for Martin Scorsese’s new gangster film The
Irishman which features age-defying visual effects. It will be released in UK cinemas and on Netflix in the autumn.

NIKO TAVERNISE / NETFLIX

Sir Richard Henriques
was asked to
conduct a thorough
report into Scotland
Yard’s handling of
Operation Midland

Loophole lets drivers film on phone


By Jessica Carpani


MOTORISTS could challenge
convictions for driving while using
their phone after a man who filmed a
road collision had his case overturned.
Builder Ramsey Barreto was
convicted of driving while using a
phone to record footage of a road acci-
dent in Ruislip, west London.
But in a ruling yesterday, two senior
judges found that the law under which
he was prosecuted only bans mobile


phone use for calls and messages – not
for filming.
The Government now faces calls to
update the law to include the latest
smartphone technology.
It also means that defendants who
felt misrepresented could have their
convictions quashed. One such person
could be ex-footballer David Beckham,
who was banned from driving in May
after he was pictured holding a phone
behind the wheel.
However, Lady Justice Thirlwall and
Mr Justice Goss said drivers could still
face prosecution under laws such as
those for careless or dangerous driving.
Despite the technicality, Lady Jus-
tice Thirlwall said the ruling would not
be a “green light” for drivers to use
their phones for other purposes. She

said: “The legislation does not prohibit
all use of a mobile phone held
while driving. It prohibits driving
while using a mobile phone or other
device for calls and other interactive
communication (and holding it at some
stage during that process).
“Driving while filming or taking
photos may be cogent evidence of care-
less driving and possibly of dangerous
driving. It is criminal conduct which
may be prosecuted and on conviction
may result in the imposition of penal-
ties significantly more serious than
those which flow from breach of the
regulations. The same applies to any
other use of the phone while driving.”
The law was most recently redrafted
in 2003 and Mr Barreto’s solicitor
Emma Patterson, of Patterson Law,

said her firm had previously argued
that Parliament should have “seized
the opportunity” to update the law
when it revised the penalties.
She added: “We have always said
that it is dangerous to interact with any
type of device whilst driving a motor
vehicle on a road and it was always
open to the police or prosecution to
pursue an allegation of driving without
due care and attention, or perhaps
even dangerous driving.
“That was never the issue. The issue
was that the law as it stood created
anomalies and confusion.”
The penalty for driving while using a
hand-held mobile phone is six points
on an offender’s licence and a fine, up
to a maximum of £1,000.
Mr Barreto, 51, was seen by a police

officer holding his phone up to his car
window for 10 to 15 seconds as he drove
past the scene of a serious accident in
Aug 2017.
He was convicted in July last year,
after a magistrates’ court trial, of driv-
ing while using a hand-held mobile
phone – under the terms of the Road
Traffic Act and the Road Vehicles Reg-
ulations.
But after his conviction was over-
turned on appeal at Isleworth Crown
Court in Oct last year, the Director of
Public Prosecutions (DPP) launched a
legal challenge.
At a hearing in London in April DPP
lawyers argued that the legislation pro-
hibits all phone use while driving.
However, the Crown Court’s deci-
sion was upheld.

Ruling by senior judges


means motorists who


ignored mobile ban could


have convictions quashed


Public costs of former PMs


have seen a major increase


By Christopher Hope
CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

PUBLIC money spent on supporting
the offices of Britain’s five surviving
former premiers has jumped by nearly
80 per cent in six years – despite the
fact that many of them have gone on to
become independently wealthy after
leaving No 10.
New figures show the costs of sup-
porting the offices of ex-PMs Sir John
Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and
David Cameron, as well as the former
deputy PM Sir Nick Clegg, increased
from £331,000 a year in 2013/14 – the

first figures that are available – to
£589,000 last year.
The costs of the Public Duty Cost Al-
lowance work out at around £1,200 a
day. The allowance was extended to Mr
Clegg for five years from May 2015.
The Cabinet Office declined to com-
ment. But a spokesman said that while
all PMs are entitled to the cash, “pay-
ments are made to meet the actual cost
of continuing to fulfil public duties.
The costs are a reimbursement of in-
curred expenses for necessary office
and secretarial costs.”

Editorial Comment: Page 17

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