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‘Perish by fire’
warning to
HK protesters
PROTESTERS in Hong Kong
must not ‘mistake our
restraint for weakness’, Bei-
jing warned yesterday.
China’s Hong Kong affairs
office vowed that ‘violent
criminals’ would be punished,
adding ‘those who play with
fire will perish by it’.
Police have fired tear gas at
protesters after a general
strike, with the territory’s
leader Carrie Lam warning
that its prosperity was at risk.
The troubles began in March
over proposals to open up
extradition with China. Critics
fear it will erode the 1997
deal which saw Britain give
back its colony to Beijing.‘Subsequently the father of
the deceased contacted the
police after he had received
the bill for the amount of
£25.96, which was the cost of
the downloaded material,’
added the prosecutor.
The matter was referred to
the Independent Office for
Police Conduct (IOPC), but
Maharaj initially denied being
the one who downloaded the
material and claimed he had
already left the house.
‘The father of the deceased
believed his son had been
downloading this material so
he was very distressed,’ said
Miss Edwin. ‘His last impres-
sion of his son was that he was
downloading this material but
then he subsequently discov-PC guarding dead
boy ordered porn
on his parents’ T V
A POLICEMAN who downloaded
pornography using the television
account of a family who had just
lost their child is facing jail.
PC Avi Maharaj, 44, was guarding Gra-
ham and Allison Miller’s home after the
death of their son Harry, 14.
While he was left alone in the grieving fam-
ily’s house to wait for an undertaker, he
used the family’s Virgin account to buy por-
nography costing £25.96. Prosecutor Rose
Edwin said: ‘On February 11, 2018, following
the death of Harry Miller – he was a 14-year-
old boy who committed suicide – the
defendant attended the address.
‘He was left alone in the address awaiting
the arrival of the undertaker to remove the
body.’ Maharaj originally arrived with other
colleagues at the house in Earlsfield, south-west London, just after 10pm but was left
alone half an hour later, Westminster Mag-
istrates’ Court heard.
Miss Edwin said that Maharaj had made
two purchases of pornography at around
11pm and one more after the undertaker
had left half an hour later.
‘The defendant accessed the account
without their consent and downloaded por-
nographic material,’ she said.
Maharaj had guessed the account’s pin
number, which was set to default settings.ered it wasn’t.’ Edmund Gritt,
defending, said: ‘He wishes to
make wholly shamed apolo-
gies to the Miller family.
‘His conduct was abject.
What little reassurance they
may have is that without ques-
tion his career as a police
officer has ended.’
Mr Gritt told the court that
Maharaj was currently sus-
pended from the force pending
an investigation. He said
Maharaj eventually confessed
to the Police Federation in
February this year.
The policeman, of Hayes,
west London, admitted one
count of fraud by false repre-
sentation. He was bailed to be
sentenced at Southwark
Crown Court.
The officer also faces a disci-
plinary hearing which is
expected to end his career.Daily Mail Reporter‘Police career
has ended’Facing jail: PC MaharajCompiled by ETAN SMALLMAN
and ADAM JACOT DE BOINODDAY
ON THIS
August 7, 2019
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
AUGUST 7, 1944
GROuSE will be more than ever a luxury on
dinner tables this year — as there are few
people and little ammunition to shoot them.
Highland estate owners, anxious to keep
Scottish moors from becoming overrun with
birds, are inviting servicemen, on leave or in
nearby camps, to join in occasional shoots.
AUGUST 7, 1971
SOLO sailor Chay
Blyth was ashore
again yesterday (right)
after his record East-
West voyage round the
world in a 59ft ketch.
Scotsman Blyth, who
completed the 30,000-mile trip in 292 days,
said: ‘The worse the situation, the funnier I
find it.’ [Blyth was the first person to sail
the world non-stop in the ‘wrong’ direction
— against prevailing winds and currents.]HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BRIAN CONLEy, 58. The comedian and
actor from London (currently starring in
Dolly Parton’s 9 To 5 musical in the West
End) is best known for the catchphrase, ‘It’s
a puppet!’ The father of two was even
quoted it back by a midwife following the
birth of his youngest daughter when he
anxiously asked, ‘Is she all right?’ A former
Pontin’s Bluecoat, Conley proposed to wife
Anne-Marie in a suit of armour, and their
wedding car was from Chitty Chitty Bang
Bang, in which he later starred on stage.
CHARLIzE THERON, 44,
(right). The South African
actress was 15 when she saw
her mother shoot her
alcoholic father dead in self-
defence. The Oscar-winner
was criticised after saying
pretty actresses struggle in
Hollywood: ‘When meaty
roles come through, I’ve been in the room
and pretty people get turned away first.’BORN ON THIS DAY
JACk GOOD (1931-2017). The London-born
TV and music producer created the BBC’s
Six-Five Special and ITV’s Oh Boy! Good,
who read philology (the study of language)
at Oxford university, said when asked about
the style of television he pioneered, ‘I prefer
vulgarity to the excessive refinement that
has long stifled British society.’
MATA HARI (1876-1917). The Dutch courte-
san-turned-spy, real name Margaretha Geer-
truida MacLeod, is a synonym for female
seduction and betrayal. She was executed by
firing squad in 1917, aged 41, having been
accused by the French of spying for Germany
in World War I and, as a result, sending
20,000 Allied soldiers to their deaths.ON AUGUST 7...
IN 1957, The Quarrymen made their debut
at Liverpool’s Cavern Club. After performing
Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog and Blue Suede
Shoes, the club owner gave John Lennon a
note that read: ‘Cut out the bloody rock!’
IN 1990, the u.S. launched Operation Desert
Shield, deploying troops to Saudi Arabia to
protect the kingdom from Iraq, which had
occupied kuwait only days earlier.WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Magiric
(coined 1853)
A) Cooking. B) Rickety and unsafe.
C) Impulsive. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Alpha and omega: Meaning the beginning
and the end or the core idea of something.
The words ‘alpha’ and ‘omega’ are the first
and last letters in the Greek alphabet.QUOTE FOR TODAY
A mAn in the house is worth two
in the street.
Mae West, American actress (1893-1980)JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you call a woman in the middle of
a tennis court? Annette.
Guess The Definition answer: A.РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛАV1 ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS