Lidl gets green light to build new £70m London HQ in Tolworth

Business reporter(wp/es):

Discount supermarket chain Lidl has been given the green light to build a new £70 million London headquarters.

The German firm was granted permission by Kingston Council to relocate its head office across south-west London to Tolworth after it bought land off Jubilee Way.

The company moved into its current headquarters in Wimbledon back in 1998 but said it had now outgrown the site.

It argued the move was crucial to support its 19,000 employees and create more jobs across the UK.

A final decision to rubber stamp the development is expected to be made by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in the new year, with bosses hopeful the site will be ready before 2020.

The approval, which was given on Thursday, comes as the firm announced it wanted to ramp up its investments in London.

Bosses revealed plans to build 250 new stores in the capital which will create up to 5,000 new jobs.

Ingo Fischer, Lidl UK Board Director for Expansion and Development, said: “We have worked very closely with the Royal Borough of Kingston’s planning officers since July 2015 and are greatly encouraged by the committee’s resolution to grant planning consent. 

Our new headquarters not only signify an investment in our own infrastructure and workforce, but also highlight our wider investment ambitions within London as Lidl UK continues to experience incredible growth. 

"Once the planning commitments have been agreed with Kingston, the consent will be referred to the Mayor’s Office to be concluded.

“We hope to receive the Mayor of London’s feedback and to progress with the plans early in the new year.”

Leader of Kingston Council, Cllr Kevin Davis, said: "We welcome what is one of the biggest investments in London this year coming to Tolworth. It will act as a foundation stone for the regeneration of the wider area.

"This is not only good for the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames but also demonstrates that a forward-thinking council, working with a supportive Mayor, can deliver a post-Brexit London that is 'open for business'."

In November, Lidl UK became the first supermarket to announce its staff would receive a pay rise in line with the latest Living Wage Foundation rate.

London Muslims donate 10 tonnes of food for homeless at Christmas

Pic: Local community leaders including Dilowar Khan, director of the East London Mosque and Bernadette Hegarty of St Pauls, Bow Common Church outside the East London Mosque 

Staff reporter(wp/es):

Muslims have donated 10 tonnes of food to feed the homeless across London at Christmas, religious and charity leaders said. 

Hundreds of Muslims flocked to the East London Mosque on Friday in a drive to feed London's homeless during the festive period.   

Pictures showed members of the 7,500 strong Muslim congregation donating food as they attended Friday prayers at the mosque in Whitechapel. 

Members of the congregation stood proudly in front of crates of shopping bags filled with rice, pasta, cereals and other tinned goods, ready to be distributed to people living on the street. 

Organisers estimated that over seven tonnes of food were donated with local businesses, schools, a university and leaders from other faiths chipping in. 

British Airways slam 'calculated and heartless' cabin crew strikes

Pic:Multiple airline strikes look set to cause festive misery to travelers
Staff reporter(wp/es):

British Airways has branded planned strikes by thousands of cabin crew over Christmas as “calculated and heartless”.

Staff voted overwhelmingly to stage a walk-out on Christmas Day and Boxing Day in a row over pay.

Unite, the union representing workers, said 80 per cent of members backed the strike on Wednesday which has raised the threat of flight disruption.

The row involves the airline’s “mixed fleet” employees who have joined British Airways since 2010.

Unite claims the cabin crew earn less than other staff and have been forced to take on second jobs to make ends meet.

The union alleged earnings were advertised between £21,000 and £25,000 but in reality started at just over £12,000 plus £3 an hour flying pay.

It emerged on Saturday that no talks have been organised in a bid to avert the industrial action. 

BA, which employs around 16,000 cabin crew, said in a statement: "We are appalled that Unite proposes to disrupt customers' travel plans on such special days when so many families are trying to gather together or set off on well-deserved holidays.

"This calculated and heartless action is completely unnecessary and we are determined that it will fail.

"We will plan to ensure all our customers travel to their destinations so that their Christmas arrangements are not ruined.

"Meanwhile, we have also approached the conciliation service Acas to seek their assistance in reaching an outcome that would avoid any possibility of disruption."

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "Unite remains ready and willing to talk to BA at any time. This dispute can be sorted but the company needs to come to the table with a positive offer."

However, talks aimed at averting strikes by baggage handlers and other staff at 18 airports will be held at Acas next week.

Officials from Unite and aviation services company Swissport will meet at the conciliation service on Tuesday.

More than 1,500 check-in staff, baggage handlers and cargo crew are due to strike for 48 hours just before Christmas in a long-running pay dispute.

Members of Unite employed by Swissport will walk out on December 23 and 24 at airports including Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted and Luton. 

Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Doncaster, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton airports will also be affected.

Mr McCluskey added: "This is clearly a positive development. We are pleased that the company will sit down with us in an effort the resolve this dispute. We are confident that our members' case is extremely strong, and that fairness will prevail."

In a further threat of chaos, Virgin pilots will work "strictly to contract" with a removal of "goodwill" from December 23, their PPU union said.

Postal and rail workers are also planning industrial action in a Christmas of discontent.

A dispute between Southern Railway and train drivers has already brought a large portion of the travel network to a standstill this December.

Post Office workers will strike next week, including on Christmas Eve, after their union said an offer it made to resolve a row over jobs, pensions and closures was rejected.

Postal workers from the Communication Workers Union will strike for five days, including three days of walkouts by staff in Crown offices - larger branches typically in high streets.

Vile child rapist Mohamed Igal jailed for series of horrific attacks on 10-year-old girl

Pic:Mohamed Igal who repeatedly raped a 10-year-old girl 
Crime reporter(wp/es):

A vile child rapist has been jailed for repeatedly attacking a 10-year-old girl who he groomed online. 

Mohamed Igal, 23, manipulated his "vulnerable" victim under the social media nickname “Wavey CJ” after meeting her on an estate in Southwark.

She had recently moved to the capital from overseas to live with her family.

Igal, a Dutch national, repeatedly raped the girl between July 2010 and May 2011, before she moved away from the area, a trial at Woolwich Crown Court heard.

His victim found the courage to come forward about the abuse in 2015 when she was 15 and he had tried to contact her again.

The court heard that he had messaged her to tell her he wanted her to perform sexual acts on him.

Igal, of Harper Road, Elephant and Castle, was sentenced to seven years and nine months imprison on Friday, December 16.

He was found guilty of the rape of a female child under 13 years old by a jury on Friday, November 4 following a trial.

Detective Constable Denise Halliwell, the investigating officer from the Sexual Offences Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "The victim was very courageous for someone so young.

"She came forward and with her family and wider support network she had the strength to describe to police the defendant's sexual manipulation and exploitation.”

Detective Inspector Jim Aspinall from the Sexual Offences Exploitation and Child Abuse Command said: "This vulnerable victim had a horrendous experience at the hands of this predatory individual and I praise her for the courage she had to come forward and work with dedicated police officers to bring him to justice.”

Porn model tried to smuggle £18m of cocaine from Britain to Australia

Pic:Isabelle Lagace and Melina Roberge

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A porn model has admitted trying to smuggle cocaine worth more than £18 million on a cruise ship from Britain to Australia.

Canadian Isabelle Lagacé, 28, was arrested with two other suspects — a man and a woman — after the liner Sea Princess docked at Sydney harbour in August.

Federal Police said the drug bust was Australia’s biggest-ever through passenger transportation.

Solicitor Louis Ialenti, acting for Lagace, entered the guilty plea at Sydney central local court.

The 95kg drugs haul, which had an Australian street value estimated to be at least $31million, was found in four suitcases — one of which, it is alleged, was in the two women’s shared cabin.

Lagace, from Quebec, sat stone-faced and dressed in maroon in the court beside her co-accused Melina Romberce, 23, and Andre Tamine, 64.

Romberce was dressed in white and Tamine wore green prison clothing.

Lagace was committed for sentencing at Sydney district court on February 3.

Tamine did not enter a plea and he will stand trial on that date in NSW district court. No plea was entered by Romberce and a decision on her trial will be made by the central local court on December 21.

Before their arrests the women had detailed their travels on the £11,000-per-person trip, which started in Southampton, through images shared on social media. 

Images posted on Instagram and Facebook showed them visiting New York, Bermuda, Ecuador, Tahiti, Colombia, Peru and New Zealand.

Romberce, a Quebec jewellery store worker, shared pictures of them riding quad bikes, hiking in Peru and posing in bikinis.

The maximum penalty for smuggling a commercial quantity of cocaine is  life imprisonment.

101-year-old man Ralph Clarke convicted of string of child sex offences

 Pic: Ralph Clarke was found guilty of historic child sex offences 
Crime reporter(wp/es):

101-yea r-old man is believed to have become Britain’s oldest convicted criminal after he was found guilty of a spate of historic child sex offences.

Retired lorry driver Ralph Clarke is facing a possible prison sentence after he was found guilty of 21 counts of abusing two girls in the 1970s and 1980s. 

He also admitted nine charges which related to a young boy mid-way through his trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

On Friday, jurors at Birmingham Crown Court convicted Clarke who sat impassively as the unanimous verdicts were delivered.

He is due to be sentenced next week.

At the start of Clarke's trial, prosecutor Miranda Moore QC said the defendant, thought to be the oldest person to stand trial in a British court, was arrested after two of his alleged victims walked into a police station in August last year.

Before the case was opened by Miss Moore, Judge Richard Bond informed the jury there would be occasions when Clarke left the hearing without permission for personal reasons.

Woman left with 'life changing injuries' after being trapped under bus at busy junction

Staff reporter(wp/es):

A woman was reportedly left trapped under a bus after being hit by a double-decker in south London. 

Police confirmed a woman was hit by a route 35 bus outside Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton during the morning rush hour. 

Witnesses described a "horrible scene" after the crash at about 8am on Friday.

A Met Police spokesman said a female pedestrian suffered a serious leg injury which was described as "life-changing".

She has been rushed to a south London hospital. 

The bus stopped at the scene and no arrests have been made.

Bystanders reported a huge emergency response with one describing Brixton a “big mess”.

One tweeted: "Horrible scene at Brixton. Person under a bus in a bad way. Hoping for the best."

Another added: “Coldharbour lane block off, something just happened near acre lane by town hall. Brixton is a big mess right now."

And another witness said: “Woman under a bus outside Brixton town hall. What are you trying to do at this junction?”

Eyewitnesses urged people to avoid the area as the crash police sparked major congestion on Brixton Hill.

Police have been pictured directing traffic outside the town hall building while several bus routes have been rediverted.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 7:49am to reports of a road traffic collision on Acre Lane.

“We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic on a motorcycle, an incident response officer and our hazardous area response team to the scene. London’s Air Ambulance was also dispatched. 

“We treated a woman at the scene for a leg injury and took her as a priority to hospital.”

Transport chiefs said the crash was being investigated.

Tony Akers, TfL’s head of bus operations, said: “We were saddened to learn of the incident at Acre Lane in Brixton and our thoughts are with the injured pedestrian at this time.

"A full investigation is underway.”