Three jailed for knife robberies on Birmingham students

Crime reporter(wp/bbc):::

A man and two teenagers have been jailed for using knives and a meat cleaver during a "shocking" set of robberies on students.

Iosif Filipache, 19, and a 15 and 16-year-old stole phones, cash and bank cards in Birmingham in a three-day spree last November.

One victim suffered a brain haemorrhage and needed surgery, police said.

Filipache was jailed for 17 years while the two others were given 11 and six years at a young offenders institute.

A 24-year-old man suffered a brain injury and needed life-saving surgery after being punched and kicked on a canal towpath near the city's Arena Birmingham, West Midlands Police said.

The trio also threatened two Aston University students with a meat cleaver in a Lancaster Circus underpass and held a knife to a man's leg in Perry Barr.

Further students were threatened with the cleaver and a café owner also suffered facial injuries.

The teenagers struck five times until they were caught.

Filipache, of Normandy Road, Aston, admitted five counts of robbery, two counts of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and wounding causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He was jailed for 17 years after a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

The two other teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted the robbery charges.

A 16-year-old was jailed for 11 years and another boy, aged 15, was sentenced to six years at youth offender institutes.

Det Con Lucy Mooney said it was "a shocking series of attacks."

"Shocking in their severity and the use of weapons - indeed one victim nearly lost his life - but also given the age of the offenders," she said.

Hackney stabbing: Teenage boy killed

Crime reporter(wp/bbc):::

A teenage boy has been stabbed to death in an attack in Hackney, east London.

The 15-year-old victim was found injured in Somerford Grove at about 21:00 BST on Wednesday and died shortly after, police said.

A shopkeeper said a boy ran into his store pleading for help, saying he had been stabbed in the back.

A second boy, aged 16, found nearby Shacklewell Road, was also stabbed but did not sustain life-threatening injuries.

A man from Elif Food Centre, who did not want to be named, told BBC London he tried to help one of the victims.

He said: "One boy came running into the shop last night saying 'I have been stabbed in the back. Help me. Help me.'

"We called an ambulance and now police have seized our CCTV."

'A good friend'

Two friends of the victim spoke of their shock after visiting the crime scene.

One said: "It came as a surprise to us because he was a good guy.

"We did music together. He didn't only produce afrobeats, he made drill music as well. He also sold some beats to some big artists.

"I never thought that any of my friends would be murdered. I'm shocked."

The other friend added: "I saw him the day before yesterday. He was a good friend, a nice lad.

"I'm so done. It doesn't feel safe any more."

Police said a Section 60 stop-and-search order had been put in place for the whole of Hackney. No arrests have been made in connection with the killing.

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick described it as a "terrible, terrible thing" as the force revealed statistics showing a drop in homicides compared to the previous financial year.

Speaking about the latest stabbing in Hackney, Ms Dick said the two boys were with a group of other boys and a girl, adding there was "some sort of confrontation with another group".

Just off a busy main road there is a huge cordon surrounding the Somerford Grove estate.

Elif Food Centre, a 24-hour off-licence, is also taped off as police officers stand guard.

Right in the middle of the cordon a big blue tent can be seen - the spot where the victim died.

Residents have been telling me they are shocked and scared as only six days ago another person was stabbed to death in Hackney.

---

Hours later, officers were called to another, unrelated, stabbing near Camden Town Tube station.

A man suffered "life-threatening" injuries in the attack on Camden Road shortly after midnight.

So far this year, more than 40 murder investigations have been launched in the capital by the Metropolitan Police and British Transport Police.

Twenty-nine of those cases are stabbing investigations.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he was "deeply saddened" by the latest killing.

"This horrific violence has absolutely no place on our streets," he said.

Hither Green burglar told 'my knife's bigger'

Crime reporter(wp/bbc):::

A 79-year-old man who killed a burglar picked up a kitchen knife and warned him his weapon was "bigger than yours", an inquest has heard.

Richard Osborn-Brooks stabbed Henry Vincent to death in Hither Green, south-east London, in April last year.

He told Southwark Coroner's Court the 37-year-old had threatened him with a screwdriver, then "rushed forward" and "ran into the knife I was holding".

Coroner Andrew Harris ruled Mr Vincent was lawfully killed.

Mr Vincent's sister told the hearing her brother was "not a violent person".

"He was a father, he was a son, he was a brother. No one deserves to die," Rosie Vincent said.

Speaking by videolink, Mr Osborn-Brooks told the inquest he still believed the intruder was "intending to do me harm" during the break-in on 4 April 2018.

He said two men had knocked on his door, grabbed him and pushed him inside.

Both then demanded money as one then shoved him toward the kitchen and the other ran upstairs.

He told the hearing that when he grabbed the knife, Mr Vincent's accomplice fled out of the front door but the intruder came down the stairs holding the screwdriver and saying "get out of my way or I'll stick you with this".

Mr Osborn-Brooks said he had then warned him his weapon was "bigger than yours" as "I thought he would look at my knife... and he would take the opportunity to run out the front door which was open".

"He definitely didn't try to get out of the front door, he came towards me," he said.

Mr Vincent's cause of death was given as an incised wound to the chest.

In a statement, the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination said a toxicology report indicated "a recent use of both cocaine and heroin".

He said Mr Vincent "may have been experiencing the effects" at the time of the raid.

Rebel Bramson defeated in bid for board seat to reform Barclays

Banking&Finance reporter(wp/reuters):::
Activist investor Edward Bramson lost his battle for a seat on the board at Barclays after shareholders voted against his bid to overhaul the under-fire investment bank from within.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the lender’s annual meeting on Thursday, the activist said fellow investors had been swayed by personal appeals from Barclays’ incoming Chairman Nigel Higgins for the opportunity to resolve the investment bank’s long-standing problems.

Bramson said his investment fund Sherborne Investors disagreed with giving the bank more time, arguing that he had seen little change at Barclays before the last six weeks, following the surprise exit of investment bank boss Tim Throsby in March.

New York-based Bramson has been sparring with Barclays for more than a year over his plans to shrink the lender’s investment bank to improve its lacklustre returns.

But only 12.8 percent of votes cast voted in favour of Bramson’s resolution, equal to 3.9 percent of the bank’s shareholders, excluding the Sherborne stake.

The result indicates broader confidence in Chief Executive Jes Staley’s plan to boost the bank’s fortunes by prioritising growth in the investment bank.

Staley’s strategy has included a costly hiring spree of rainmakers and a diversion of capital from Barclays’ retail arm towards higher risk lending and trading activity.

Bramson said there was “an option” to keep Barclays’ investment bank but only if it could become a worthwhile asset for investors.

Shares in the lender, which have fallen more than 20 percent in the past year — more than double the losses suffered by rivals including Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC — were trading 0.8 percent higher by 1430 GMT.

CRITICAL INVESTORS

One institutional investor, who voted in favour of Bramson’s resolution, warned Barclays against celebrating his defeat too soon, particularly in view of first quarter figures which showed a drop in investment banking business returns to 9.5 percent from 13.2 percent a year ago.

“Defeat looked inevitable but he is in for the long haul. Given the price of Sherborne, he has to keep going,” referring to the fund’s 2018 net asset value, down to 468.7 million pounds from 695.9 million pounds in 2017.

Addressing shareholders, Barclays’ departing Chairman John McFarlane said the board unanimously rejected Bramson’s resolution, which it believed would destabilise the bank.

“We’ve had a full 12 months of clean and respectable profits, producing earnings per share of 20 pence. When I joined, we were loss-making and dividends were paid from reserves. We’ve firmly drawn a line on the past,” McFarlane said.

But not everyone was convinced.

“I never expected to be standing here with a share price so badly kicked in,” said a second shareholder, who did not give their name.

“I’ve been heavily invested in Barclays my whole life, painfully invested. It’s not good enough,” he added.

CLIMATE PROTEST

Barclays was also targeted by a group of climate change protesters, calling for an end to its financing of fossil fuel projects, both inside and outside the venue.

Around 15-20 campaigners from groups including student activist network People & Planet gathered outside the meeting. Some waved banners reading ‘Fossil Banks-No Thanks’, days after environmental group Extinction Rebellion paralysed parts of the British capital in protests against the impact of climate change.

Several protesters were dragged away from the QEII conference centre in Westminster by police and security staff, while seven or eight students who had gained entry to the auditorium disrupted Staley’s announcement of a new climate change policy.

“Tell the truth,” the protesters demanded, before being escorted out of the room.

Barclays provided the most financing among European banks for fossil fuel-related projects in 2018 and the sixth highest among lenders worldwide, according to a report by campaigning organisation BankTrack.

MPs question Lloyds CEO's remuneration

Banking&Finance reporter(wp/reuters):::
Senior MPs have questioned whether Britain’s highest paid bank CEO, Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio, is receiving too generous pension and share awards.

The heads of Britain’s work and pensions and business committees wrote a joint letter to Lloyds querying whether the level of awards were fair.

Horta-Osorio had a 2018 pay package worth 6.3 million pounds.

The intervention from MPs comes as pay levels for the bosses of Britain’s lenders come under renewed scrutiny and ahead of Lloyds’ annual general meeting on May 16, when investors will vote on whether to approve the bank’s pay policy.

Lloyds said in February that Horta-Osorio had voluntarily given up a portion of his pension contributions, bringing it down to 33 percent of base salary from 46 percent previously.

However, the MPs - Frank Field and Rachel Reeves - questioned in their letter why this contribution was still higher than other Lloyds employees’ maximum contribution of 13 percent.

The bank’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer also receive higher pension contribution rates at 25 percent, the letter noted.

The MPs also queried Horta-Osorio’s fixed share award of 1.05 million pounds last year and asked whether it was within the spirit of guidelines issued by the Investment Association.

The letter was addressed to Stuart Sinclair, chair of Lloyds’ remuneration committee. The MPs also wrote to the Investment Association seeking its views.

A Lloyds representative was not immediately available for comment.

I've protected many, Assange tells UK court as he fights U.S. extradition warrant

Media news(wp/reuters):::
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a London court on Thursday his work had protected “many people” and refused to agree to be extradited to the United States to face trial for one of the largest compromises of classified information in history.

The United States has requested the extradition of Assange, who was dragged from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London on April 11, and has charged him with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion which carries a maximum penalty of five years.

Asked at a preliminary hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court whether he agreed to be extradited to the United States, Assange, appearing via a video link from a British prison, said: “I do not wish to surrender for extradition. I’m a journalist winning many, many awards and protecting many people.”

Assange made international headlines in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.

To some, Assange is a hero for exposing what supporters cast as abuse of power by modern states and for championing free speech. To others, he is a dangerous rebel who has undermined U.S. security.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison by a British court for skipping bail after fleeing to Ecuador’s Embassy in London, where he remained for seven years until police dragged him out last month.

Assange had sought refuge in the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face an allegation of rape, which he denies, saying he feared he would be sent to the United States to face action over the WikiLeaks’ release of classified U.S. diplomatic cables.

Hours after his arrest last month, U.S. prosecutors said they had charged Assange with conspiracy in trying to access a classified U.S. government computer.

“The charge relates to one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States,” said Ben Brandon, the lawyer representing the United States.

He said in early 2010, former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning had downloaded 90,000 activity reports relating to the Afghan war, 400,000 relating to the conflict in Iraq, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs and 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables.

The vast majority of these were later released on WikiLeaks.

“NOT ABOUT HACKING”

There were computer room chats showing real-time discussions between Manning and Assange over cracking a password to gain access to classified U.S. documents and the public release of the information, Brandon said.

“Despite what you heard from the prosecutor in the courtroom today, this case is not about hacking,” Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson said outside court.

“This case is about a journalist and a publisher who had conversations with a source about accessing material, encouraged that source to provide material and spoke to that source about how to protect their identity. This is protected activity that journalists engage in all the time.”

She said the action against him had been launched under former U.S. President Barack Obama and aggressively pursued by the administration of Donald Trump.

The case was adjourned until May 30 for a procedural hearing with a more substantial hearing planned for June 12. The full extradition hearing was some months away, Judge Michael Snow told the court.

UK PM May under fire after Huawei leak sacking

Political reporter(wp/reuters):::
Theresa May hoped firing her defense secretary over a leak would put her latest government scandal to rest. But it seems only to have unleashed yet another political storm for the British prime minister, with members of her own party questioning her judgment and opponents demanding the police be called in.

Williamson has continued to deny responsibility, saying he had been judged by a “kangaroo court”. May has said she considers the matter closed. Others have refused to let it rest.

“In what world is it acceptable that the prime minister should be the arbiter of whether a politician she believes guilty of criminal conduct in office should face a criminal investigation?” said Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the opposition Labour Party.

The leak, first reported in the Telegraph newspaper, said Britain would allow Huawei a role in building parts of its 5G network, setting London at odds with Washington, which wants allies to ban the Chinese firm from the next generation of communications technology.

Williamson, previously in charge of party discipline, was an important political ally for May as she struggled to steer Britain through Brexit, its biggest upheaval in decades, without a majority in parliament and no clear consensus about the best way to leave the European Union.

She announced in March she would step down if parliament accepted her Brexit deal, effectively launching a party leadership contest to choose her successor.

The Huawei leak has crystallized doubts about May’s ability to keep her ministers in check and govern effectively. Meetings of the NSC are attended by senior cabinet ministers, several of whom are top candidates to replace May. It was widely assumed that the leak was intended to give rivals a chance to portray themselves as stronger than May on security.

“NATURAL JUSTICE”

May’s own fate and that of her project to extricate Britain from the European Union are now in limbo after parliament rejected the Brexit agreement, forcing May to ask the EU for an extension. Brexit is now set for October, but what form it will take or whether it will happen at all are in doubt.

The delay means Britain must hold elections for the European parliament later this month at which May’s Conservatives are expected to be trounced. They are also forecast to lose hundreds of seats on local councils in elections on Thursday.

In firing Williamson on Wednesday, May said an investigation had left no other credible explanation for the leak except that Williamson was responsible.

Cabinet office Minister David Lidington, who fielded questions at an urgent parliamentary hearing on the affair on Thursday, said that May had nevertheless not accused Williamson of breaking the law. It was for police, not ministers, to decide whether a criminal offense had been committed and the government did not intend to refer the matter to prosecutors, he said.

Lawmakers, including Conservatives, called for all the evidence against Williamson to be made public.

“Natural justice demands that the evidence be produced so his reputation can be salvaged or utterly destroyed,” said Desmond Swayne, a Conservative lawmaker.

Sky News reported that Williamson also wanted a criminal probe to clear his name.