Father faces jail after killing toddler son

Crime reporter(wp/es):
A man killed his toddler son by force-feeding him a mixture of bread and cereal.
The three-year-old "drowned in his food" after he was forced to lie across his father's lap while the porridge-like mixture was poured into his mouth from a cup.
The 32-year-old parent, from north-west London, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty by a majority verdict of manslaughter and cruelty to a child at the Old Bailey.
Prosecutor Simon Denison QC had told the jury that the defendant would slap his son or send him to bed on occasions when he vomited during feeding sessions.
On November 27 last year, he called for an ambulance and paramedics arrived to find the child lying on the floor in a nappy, showing no signs of life.

Mr Denison said: "There was a very large amount of vomit that looked like a porridge substance on his face and on his chest and not the floor.
"It was very difficult to clear his airway because of the amount of porridge-like substance that was in his throat. When CPR was attempted, more of the substance came out."
He added: "A post-mortem examination revealed that virtually all sections of his lungs were stuffed with recognisable food material.
"He had aspirated, inhaled, breathed in, a large amount of the porridge-like mix into his lungs so that he had, in effect, drowned in his food."
The defendant was remanded in custody to be sentenced by Mr Justice Singh at the Old Bailey tomorrow.

An NSPCC spokesman said: "This is a tragic, shocking and desperately sad case.
"It goes without saying that the child concerned died in the most horrific way and at the hands of a man who should have cared for, loved and protected him.
"The fact the father continued to force feed the child even though his distress would have been obvious is heart-breaking and hard to comprehend."

35,000 jobs in London pay less than minimum wage

Staff reporter(wp/es):
London has 35,000 jobs which pay less than the minimum wage, official figures show.
Less than one per cent of London jobs paid less than the minimum wage in April 2016, at total of around 35,000 positions, according to figures released by the Office of National Statistics.
However it makes the capital the UK region with the lowest proportion of jobs paid less than the minimum wage.
The percentage of jobs in London which pay less than minimum wage stands at 0.9% this year compared to 0.6% in 2015.
The average figure for the UK is 1.3 per cent, an increase of 0.5 per cent from last year.  
A spokesman for ONS said that it was difficult to compare the data to last year because of the new National Living Wage which came into effect 1 April 2016, skewing results.

The data, he said, was more helpful when comparing regions and occupations.
In 2016 the worst regions in the UK for low pay were Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Midlands where 1.7 per cent of jobs were paid below the minimum wage.
The highest proportion of low paid jobs were those classified as “elementary" such as bar staff and waiters at 3.5 per cent. The lowest proportion was among professionals at 0.5 per cent.    
The study looked at all UK jobs earning less than the National Living Wage, £7.20 for all people aged 25 and over, or the National Minimum Wage, for those under 25.

Woman dies after being hit by train at Seven Sisters Tube station

Staff reporter(wp/es):
A woman has died after being hit by a Tube train in front of shocked passengers at Seven Sisters station.
British Transport Police were called to the station at 11.15am today to reports that someone had been struck by a train.
The station, in north London, was closed while emergency services dealt with the incident.
A BTP spokesman said confirmed that the woman died at the scene.
He added: "Officers attended alongside London Ambulance Service paramedics and treated a woman for injuries.
"However, despite their best efforts, the woman was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
"Officers are now working to identify the person and inform their family.
"This incident is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner"
Services on the Victoria line are severely delayed and no Underground trains are running between Seven Sisters and Walthamstow Central.

A statement posted on Transport for London’s website reads: “No service between Walthamstow Central and Seven Sisters due to an earlier customer incident.
“Severe delays on the rest of the line.
“London Underground tickets will be accepted on London Overground, Greater Anglia, Great Northern, South Eastern Trains and local bus services via any reasonable route.”

Furious woman confronts man after 'sex assault' on London bus

Crime reporter(wp/es):
A furious woman has confronted a man who allegedly sexually assaulted her on a London bus.
Police have released a fresh image of a man they want to speak to after the woman was reportedly touched inappropriately from behind while travelling on Wood Green High Road.
The alleged attack happened on a route 144 bus at 3.20pm on June 19.
The victim is said to have walked after the man, grabbed him by the collar and said: “What do you think you’re doing?”
Another passenger then shouted: "Don’t touch her," after which the suspect is believed to have turned around and struck the victim on the left side of her face, hitting her glasses.
The man is described as white and aged between 35 and 45 years old.
He is said to be approximately 6ft tall with short mousey hair which was turning grey and blue/grey eyes.
He was wearing a white collared shirt with a grey jumper or hooded top at the time of the incident.

Armed police on Tube after North Greenwich 'bomb' alert

 
Pic: North Greenwich station was evacuated over a terror scare
Crime reporter(wp/es):
Armed police are to travel on London Underground trains following the bomb alert at North Greenwich station, a senior officer revealed today.
Firearms patrols which are routinely deployed on mainline train stations in London are to use the Tube to travel between jobs for the first time in a move to counter the terror threat and to reassure the public.
British Transport Police chiefs say they are not deploying armed patrols on the Underground but the firearms cops will use the Tube instead of cars to get round the city in future.
BTP’s Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Hanstock said the plan would mean the public could see armed officers travelling on the Tube on a daily basis.
He said: “They will stand out and people will see them. We hope they will provide a reassurance that they are there and they are able to respond whatever the threat may be.”

Armed officers were deployed on the Tube and railway in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings in 2005 but the measure was only temporary.
Today’s announcement will mean that armed officers will now be seen on the Tube network in central London on a daily basis.
However, the move is understood to have raised some concerns at City Hall over how Londoners might react to the sight of armed officers on the Tube.
The Mayor’s spokesperson said: “No decision has been taken on this proposal. It will be discussed between the Mayor, BTP and TfL over the coming weeks‎.”

Armed officers routinely patrol mainline stations such as King’s Cross, Waterloo and Paddington and the new move will mean they will criss-cross the city as they move between jobs.
BTP chiefs are holding final discussions with City Hall and Transport for London before the change is launched.
Police believe the move will raise the profile of officers on the Tube as well as allowing firearms patrols more time on duty at mainline stations.
In a further move BTP dog units will also use Tube trains to travel around the capital rather using vans or cars as they do now.

The new measures were announced today as it emerged that members of the public raised the alarm over the suspected improvised bomb found on a Jubilee Line train last week.
Mr Hanstock praised the public and Tube staff for the way they responded to the alert.
He said: “We are very impressed that the public did everything we have been asking them to do for many years, they acted as our eyes and ears and spotted something that was unusual and out of place.
“They reported it to staff who also made a very careful assessment and, working from a set of principles, also raised the alarm and called in the experts.”

North Greenwich Tube station was closed while the bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion on the device last Thursday.
A 19-year-old man was Tasered and arrested in the street in Holloway the following day in connection with the alleged plot.
Damon Smith, who had recently started studying at London Metropolitan University, remains in custody.
Mr Hanstock described the device as being in an “innocuous” bag on the floor of an eastbound Jubilee train.
He said: “It was not something with curly wires and sticks of dynamite, it was enough to sit unnoticed.
It was typical of what you would see on the train, but it was enough for the public to say, ‘hang on, no-one has been with that for a while, it seems to have been abandoned, we are going to report it.’”
The bag is thought to have been left on the train somewhere between Westminster and Canary Wharf and travelled on the train for at least a few stops before the alert was raised.
A member of the public who spotted it then walked to the front of the train and alerted the driver at North Greenwich station.
Mr Hanstock said the driver had to decide if it was a routine abandoned bag such as someone “who had just forgotten their laundry” and he quickly decided to call in the experts.

Mr Hanstock said his force had a team of “highly trained, highly equipped” bomb recognition experts who attended the scene and, in turn, called in the Met’s counter terrorism command.
The deputy chief constable admitted there was a risk that the sight of armed police on the Tube network might increase people’s fears of terrorism.
But he said: “It is a risk we are prepared to take. We understand that people don’t want to be confronted with the reality of the threat that the UK faces but it is clear and obvious that we have this severe threat level from terrorism.

“Whether that is targeted, deliberate and calculated or whether it is unsophisticated, we have seen both, the reality of that risk is there.
“Hopefully people will be reassured that we have got the measures in place to counter that threat and we can also be unpredictable.”
Referring to the bomb alert at North Greenwich, Mr Hanstock said his officers investigated thousands of reports of unclaimed bags every year.
He revealed that in recent years there had been just 37 occasions when police had carried out full evacuations of stations.
 The force had become adept at reacting to deaths on the Tube and in reducing the disruption to the Tube and rail network following serious incidents.