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Lawyers & Lawcourts

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Two businessman linked to a Glasgow gangland family will have almost £1m assets confiscated under proceeds of crime legislation.

Russell Stirton and Alexander Anderson, who ran a sex toys business and were involved in the McGovern family, will have their homes taken by the Crown as part of the court action.The pair have never been convicted of a criminal offence in relation to gangland activity, but the long-running action by the Scottish ministers found that they had made money through "unlawful conduct".Stirton and Anderson were found to have been involved in the importation of drugs and a handgun into the UK, to have extorted "protection money" from Glasgow taxi firm Spring Radio Cars and money laundering through a petrol garage in the city.In Lady Stacey’s opinion...

London Underground Wi-Fi supplier to be announced in spring

 Transport for London (TfL) is in the final stages of the tender process for the supply of Wi-Fi to up to 120 of its underground stations. The announcement of the chosen bidder had been scheduled for the end of 2011, but is now expected in early spring. Gareth Powell, director of strategy and service development, said: "London Underground is continuing with preparations to install the necessary infrastructure and is on schedule to complete the project as planned." Powell added the contract will be in place "leaving plenty of time for this to be delivered to customers in time for the 2012 Games". According to a TfL tender document, the Wi-Fi supplier will host and operate a portal for the London Underground Wi-Fi service to provide media rich content free of charge, likely to include...

Drugs mule sentences cut in new sentencing guidelines

 People who smuggle drugs will face more lenient sentences if they have been exploited, under new guidelines. The change in approach on "drug mules" is in the first comprehensive rules on drugs offences from the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. The council said judges should distinguish between those who have been exploited by gangs and criminals heavily involved in the drugs trade. But it said large-scale drugs producers should expect longer jail terms. The council's role is to provide judges and magistrates with a set of broad guidelines so that sentencing is more consistent across England and Wales. Last year the council carried out research into 12 women convicted of drug mule offences, all of whom received sentences of between 15 months and 15 years. The majority of...

Caught with six kilos of cannabis and you could still avoid jail

 Sentencing guidelines issued today say that offenders who play a “limited” role in gangs could face community orders for intent to supply Class A drugs. Dealers caught with 6kg of cannabis, valued at £17,000 and enough to fill 30,000 joints or keep an average user in supply for 17 years, could also avoid prison. The sentences on drug “mules” will be cut substantially, while workers in small cannabis “farms” could escape custody. Courts will be told for the first time to reduce sentences for cannabis possession if it is being used for medicinal purposes. The guidelines maintain tough sentences for gang leaders and those who sell directly to the public, especially to childr...

Drug Users Could Avoid Jail Under New Guidelines Published By The Sentencing Council For Judges

 Friends socially sharing drugs and those using cannabis for medicinal purposes could escape jail under new guidelines for judges. Drug runners and small-time dealers caught with heroin, cocaine or thousands of pounds worth of cannabis could also avoid prison. Instead, low-level operatives caught with 6kg of cannabis, 20 ecstasy tablets, or five grams of heroin or cocaine are likely to receive a community sentence. The guidelines, which come into force on February 27, are expected to be met with mixed reaction. They state a prison sentence may not be necessary for people who supply small amounts of narcotics to share with their friends for no personal gain. They also urge judges for the first time to reduce sentences for cannabis possession if it is being used "to help with a diagnosed...

Monday, 23 January 2012

"Dangerous" inmate charged with murder on the run after prison van ambush

 A dangerous prisoner charged with murder is on the run after three masked men ambushed a prison van. Advertisement >> John Anslow, 31, escaped following the attack on the prison van taking three inmates from Hewell prison in Redditch to Stafford Crown Court at about 8.20am. The van was stopped by three men wearing balaclavas who jumped out of a Volkswagen Scirocco. Two of the men were wielding sledgehammers and smashed the windscreen and the driver’s window of the GEO Amey prison escort van. The driver was also punched and reportedly threatened with a blade before the men drove off in the Scriocco. It is believed they switched to a silver Mercedes after stopping in Stoney Lane. The two other prisoners being carried in the van did not escape. West Mercia Police have now...

Megaupload founder seeks bail in New Zealand court

 The founder of file-sharing website Megaupload has appeared in a New Zealand court seeking bail. German national Kim Dotcom - also known as Kim Schmitz - was arrested with three others in Auckland on Friday in a raid requested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. He has been accused of internet piracy and money laundering. Prosecutors say he is a flight risk. The court later delayed a decision on bail. "Given the breadth of issues covered in this bail application and the seriousness of the issues, I am going to reserve my decision," said Judge David McNaughton. US authorities want to extradite Mr Dotcom. Federal prosecutors have accused Megaupload - one of the internet's largest file-sharing sites - of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue. Megaupload,...

Fake Ryanair pilots sentenced for smuggling cocaine into Spain

 One was a flight attendant for the airline and obtained the pilots' uniforms which helped them to bypass airport securityEFE archive A gang which used fake pilots to bypass airport security and smuggle regular shipments of cocaine into the country has been sentenced by the Alicante provincial court, after 13 kilos of cocaine were discovered at their drugs store in Benidorm. The street value of the drugs found there in a police swoop in July 2009 is given at close to half a million €. One of the defendants was a flight attendant for Ryanair who obtained pilots’ uniforms for himself and an accomplice, allowing them to bypass security at Barajas Airport. The attendant, José Antonio H.P., had been under investigation since the start of 2009 and is thought to have been paid 20,000 € for...

Sunday, 22 January 2012

Costa tragedy: 'Get back on board, damn it!' T-shirts a hit

 A coast guard officer's "Get back on board damn it!" order to the fleeing captain of the capsized Costa Concordia liner is being printed on T-shirts by a company hoping to inspire Italians to rescue their country from economic crisis. Italians have made a hero of coast guard officer Gregorio De Falco for his angry exchange with skipper Francesco Schettino - who has been blamed for the accident and is now under house arrest accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. Stefano Ramponi, owner of the Lipsiasoft web agency that is producing the T-shirts and selling them on the Internet for 12.9 euros ($16.63), said they had become an instant hit both in Italy and abroad. "We have had a lot of requests from all over the world, from Brazil, Hong Kong, also from Germany...

Friday, 20 January 2012

Salvage crews are trying to secure the Costa Concordia to rocks with heavy cables as the cruise ship slips at a rate of 1.5cm per hour.

Coastguards fear big waves forecast for the next 36 hours could push the ship off its perch, sending it to the bottom of the sea.The ship's movements are being carefully monitored - and had halted divers' attempts to find the 21 passengers still unaccounted for.The search has now resumed after being suspended at midnight when laser technology detected the ship was moving, putting search teams at risk. Firefighters have been working around the clock to find the missingAuthorities said earlier it was too dangerous for divers to enter the vessel and that the search would only resume when it was deemed safe.The threat of the ship sinking has...

Thursday, 19 January 2012

Carnival says caring for cruise disaster victims

 Carnival Corp & plc, whose luxury liner Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy last week, said it was providing lodging, refunds and other support to people affected by the accident, even as some public relations executives criticized the company's handling of the situation. "I give my personal assurance that we will take care of each and every one of our guests, crew and their families affected by this tragic event," Carnival Chief Executive Micky Arison said in a statement late on Wednesday - five days after the incident that left 11 people dead and 22 missing. Costa Cruise Lines, a unit of Carnival and operator of the ship, has been arranging lodging and transportation for passengers and crew members to return home, and has offered assistance and counseling as needed....

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino told he will 'pay for this' by coast guard

 As the Costa Concordia cruise liner lay stricken on its side, and with people still scrambling to evacuate, an Italian Coast Guard chief raged at the ship’s captain to get back on board and direct the rescue efforts. But the captain, Francesco Schettino, who was in a lifeboat, refused to return to the ship. A partial transcript of the dramatic conversation between Schettino and Gregorio De Falco, the Coast Guard official, as released by newspaper Corriere della Sera. National Post CLICK FOR LARGER GRAPHIC Coast Guard: Listen, Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now, you go with your lifeboat. Under the bow of the ship, on the right side, there is a ladder. You climb on that ladder and go on board the ship. Go on board the ship and get back to me and tell me how many people...

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Pasquale Mazzarella and Clemente Amodio arrested in Marbella

 TWO Italians belonging to the Mazzarella mafia family were arrested in Malaga for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking activities, according to Press reports. Pasquale Mazzarella, who had been on the run from the authorities for the past three years, and Clemente Amodio, wanted since last Spring, had European arrest warrants against them and were handed over to the National Court to be extradited to Italy. They were living in a villa in Marbella, and had moved their headquarters to Spain, allegedly bringing drugs from Morocco to sell in Euro...

Spain's most famous judge, the charismatic and controversial investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzón, sat in the dock at the country's supreme court

 Spain's most famous judge, the charismatic and controversial investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzón, sat in the dock at the country's supreme court on Tuesday morning to face charges that may bring his career to an abrupt and dramatic end. Garzón, who ordered the arrest in London of Chile's General Pinochet, entered the court wearing his judge's gown for what may be one of the last times, as he faces being struck off as a magistrate for up to 17 years. He told the Guardian he was in good spirits, though he has privately said he believes his fellow judges are determined to find him guilty in this case or one of the two others he must face in the coming weeks and months. "I'm fine," he said before entering a courtroom decorated with a massive glass chandelier and large crucifix. ...

Captain ordered back onto boat by port officials

  Mr Schettino 'attempted to take a taxi away from the scene' • Crew 'began evacuation before captain's orders' • Number of missing passengers and crew rises to 29 • Navy blasting holes in hull to improve access to divers • Captain due to appear in court this morning • Minister warns of ecological disaster According to reports in Italian media, Captain Francesco Schettino was attempting to catch a taxi away from the scene. “What do you want to do, go home?” one official asked him, according to transcripts of the increasingly frantic exchanges between port authorities and the captain, who allegedly refused a direct order to return to the ship and take charge. The transcripts reveal the mounting anger and frustration of port and Coast Guard officials as they began to realise the full...

Monday, 16 January 2012

British peer calls for abolition of time limit on expat voting

 Britons who live abroad currently have no voting rights if they have been out of the country for more than 15 years An estimated 5.6 million Britons currently live abroad but, under UK law, those who have been out of the country for more than 15 years have no right to vote in British elections. There has been support for changes to the law in a recent debate on electoral reform in the House of Lords. The Telegraph reports this week on a comment from Lord Lexden, the Conservative Party’s official historian, that the time limit is, ‘a problem which has been allowed to go on for far too long.’ He proposed that the government’s plans to reform the electoral system could provide the ‘perfect vehicle’ to abolish a limit which he said has been ‘chopped and changed’ ‘without rationale.’ It...

Tax adviser guilty of fraud scheme

 A professional tax adviser from Bedfordshire has been convicted of trying to defraud honest taxpayers of £70 million, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said. David Perrin spent his cut of the stolen cash on expensive second homes, exotic holidays, works of art and luxury cars, a spokeswoman said. The 46-year-old, of Leagrave, Luton, Bedfordshire, was found guilty at Blackfriars Crown Court and will be sentenced next month, she added. Perrin, deputy managing director at Vantis Tax Ltd, devised and operated a tax avoidance scheme which he sold to wealthy taxpayers in order to exploit the law on giving shares to charity, she said. The scheme allowed him to pocket more than £2 million in fees from unsuspecting clients. He used a network of finance professionals to advise more than 600...

Top former art dealer faces 87 charges after fraud probe

 One of Australia's former leading art dealers, Ronald Coles, faces up to 10 years in jail after being charged today with 87 offences relating to an alleged multimillion-dollar investment art fraud scheme. Mr Coles, 64, was ordered to appear at Gosford police station at 10am today. Fraud Squad detectives formally charged him following an "extremely protracted and legally intricate" two-year investigation into his business affairs. Under the Crimes Act, Mr Coles was charged with 77 counts of "larceny as a bailee" and a further 10 counts of "director/officer cheat or defraud". For more than 30 years, Mr Coles specialised in fine art by some of Australia's most celebrated artists, including Sir Arthur Streeton, Eugene von Guerard, Brett Whiteley and Norman Lyndsay. Advertising on national...

Sunday, 15 January 2012

Fire, power failures, crime and tragic overboard deaths are common on cruise vacations

 A luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia leans on its side after running aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, They're often billed as the ultimate in worry-free vacations. But cruise critics say these floating hotels -- some as high as 12 storeys tall -- aren't nearly as safe as claimed.Fire, power failures, crime and tragic overboard deaths are common on cruise vacations, said Ross Klein, a Memorial University sociologist and author of two books on the cruise industry.The ships, which can carry more than 4,000 passengers, are as big as towns, Klein said, packed with strangers often bent on having a good time. Many passengers...

Saturday, 14 January 2012

The Italian captain of a ship that sank off the coast of Tuscany was placed under arrest after one of the most dramatic holiday cruise disasters

The Costa Concordia lies on its side after running aground off the west coast of Italy at Giglio island. Photograph: ReutersThe Italian captain of a ship that sank off the coast of Tuscany was placed under arrest after one of the most dramatic holiday cruise disasters ever seen in the Mediterranean. Three passengers died and 69 were still unaccounted for after the 114,000-tonne Costa Concordia smashed into rocks amid scenes of panic and chaos.Local prosecutors said Francesco Schettino was being investigated for manslaughter and abandoning ship following reports his stricken vessel failed to raise a mayday alert as the disaster unfolded.There...

Russian ship suspected of carrying munitions to Syria appears near Turkish port

 Authorities say a Russian ship suspected of delivering weapons to Syria has anchored off Turkey’s coast. A Foreign Ministry official said Turkish coast guard and customs officials would board the Chariot on Saturday before allowing it to dock at the port of Iskenderun. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare The ship had made an unscheduled stop in Cyprus, technically violating an EU embargo on arms shipments to Syria. Cypriot authorities allowed it to leave Wednesday after the ship’s owners said it would not head for Syria. Turkey, citing navy intelligence, said the ship nevertheless made its way to the Syrian port of Tartus after leaving Cyprus. U.S. officials said Friday they had expressed concerns...

Extra Virginity: The Sublime And Scandalous World of Olive Oil, not all virgins are as pure as they might seem — and the world of olive oil is increasingly beset with fraud, smuggling and even poisoning.

According to Tom Mueller, author of a new book on the subject, Extra Virginity: The Sublime And Scandalous World of Olive Oil, not all virgins are as pure as they might seem — and the world of olive oil is increasingly beset with fraud, smuggling and even poisoning.The problem is that where there’s money, there’s crime, and olive oil is a very valuable commodity. Olive oil is graded into several different types for sale, the most common of which is extra virginIn July, Spanish police arrested the leader of a gang responsible for the theft of more than a million litres of the stuff, siphoned from storage tanks in Murcia, and shipped under...

2nd Try to Extradite Mexican Accused Narco Denied

 A Mexican federal judge on Thursday rejected a second attempt to extradite an alleged drug trafficker to the U.S., nearly exhausting yearslong efforts by both nations to convict a woman known as the "Queen of the Pacific." Judge Jesus Chavez ruled that Sandra Avila Beltran would face the same charges in Florida on which she was acquitted in Mexico. Chavez said the core of a 2004 indictment against Avila in the Southern District of Florida is the seizure of more than nine tons of U.S.-bound cocaine on Mexico's west coast. A Mexican judge acquitted Avila in December 2010 of charges stemming from the same confiscation of drugs off a vessel...

Thursday, 12 January 2012

US Marines identify 'urination' troops

 At least two of four US Marines shown in a video appearing to urinate on Taliban corpses have been identified, a Marine Corps official has told the BBC. The video, which was posted online, purports to show four US Marines standing over the bodies of several Taliban fighters, at least one of whom is covered in blood. The Marines have begun a criminal investigation and an internal inquiry. US officials and Afghan officials have condemned the video as "deplorable". The origin of the video is not known, but it was originally posted to YouTube. The BBC's Steve Kingstone says the official would not confirm the Marines' whereabouts, but news reports suggested the unit involved was based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina - a major military base. A US Marines spokesman, Lt Col Joseph Plenzler,...

Five men have been arrested on suspicion of fraudulent transactions from accounts held at Bristol-based stockbroker Rowan Dartington

 The arrests have been confirmed by Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which said that the men aged 45, 36, 49, 57 and 23 have all been bailed pending further enquiries but not charged.The arrests are in connection with high value fraudulent transactions that saw money leave accounts held at Rowan Dartington. The events are understood to have taken place prior to the management buyout headed by current chief Graham Coxell (pictured), who is not one of the five arrested, in February of last year.A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset police said the investigation expanded beyond the Bristol area, with the Cumbria police force also involved....

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