Man charged after 'being caught in Buckingham Palace grounds"

Royal correspondent(es/wp):

A young man who was allegedly caught in the grounds of Buckingham Palace last summer has been charged with trespass.

William Hayes-Collins, 24, of Croydon in south London, is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday, March 3.

The suspect was allegedly stopped within the palace grounds at around 4.15am on August 9.

Scotland Yard confirmed a man was charged with trespass on a protected site.

Young man killed in mass fight on suburban street North London

Crime reporter(wp/es):

 A murder investigation has been launched after a young man was killed during a mass fight on a suburban street in north London.

Police rushed to Heathfield Gardens, where houses cost around £1 million, at around 7.15pm on Friday following reports of a number of males fighting.

They found a man in his early 20s with a serious gash on his neck. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance but later died.

Police said they do not know exactly what caused the wound at this stage.

Enquiries are underway to trace and inform the victim’s family, while formal identification and a post-mortem examination will take place in due course.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of affray and remain in custody at a north London police station.

Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating the incident, which took place just metres away from Brent Cross tube station.

Man fighting for life in hospital after O2 Arena assault

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A  man is fighting for life in hospital after being attacked near the O2 Arena in the early hours of the morning.

Police were called at around 3.25am on February 12 to Peninsula Square – the walkway from the O2 Arena – following reports of a disturbance involving a large number of people.

They found an unconscious man with a serious head injury who was rushed to a central London hospital in an ambulance.

Police officers in Greenwich have now released three images of a man they wish to question in connection with the alleged assault.

He has a distinctive hair cut with the top slicked back and the sides shaved.  He is described as being olive-skinned, aged in his mid 20s and was wearing black clothing on the night.

Two men, both aged 21, were arrested at North Greenwich Underground station in connection with the incident.

Boy, 16, charged with murder after shooting of Yasir Beshira in Kilburn

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a young man was gunned down near a busy north London high street.

Yasir Beshira was shot in Netherwood Street, off Kilburn High Road, on December 8.

Scotland Yard said detectives have now charged a teenage boy with murdering the 21-year-old.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will appear in custody at Willesden Youth Court on Thursday.

He was originally arrested in connection with the killing alongside three other males.

Two men aged 20 and 22 remain in custody, while a 17-year-old boy was bailed until March.

A 22-year-old man arrested on December 10 was bailed until a date in February.

Loving father killed when his chainsaw 'kicked back' at work

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A tree surgeon killed in a tragic chainsaw accident was a loving father who worked the dangerous job to provide for his young family, relatives said today.

Gregery Bulbuc, 31, was left dangling from his rope 20ft in the air after the blade “kicked back” into his neck while trimming a tree in a back garden in Bermondsey.

The Romanian worker who was employed by Aralia Tree Services had a one-year-old son and was a week from celebrating his 32nd birthday.

Emergency services battled to rescue him and save his life but was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 11am yesterday.

Detectives have launched an investigation alongside the Health and Safety Executive, which sent inspectors to Banyard Road, a quiet backstreet of £700,000 terraced homes near Southpark Park.

Jelena Skutane shared a series of pictures of her partner of three years on social media as hundreds of friends and relatives posted messages in his memory. 

Ms Skutane said: “You’ve always been in our hearts, we love you so much. 

“Hope you will see how your son grow up. Greg hope we been longer time together like a family. Love you to bits.” 

Her sister Linda wrote: “It’s so painful when you know person of our family is gone forever and this person never gonna come back. 

“We miss him already, we loved him so much and we still love him. He was a good father for his child. But now he’s gone.”

Mr Bulbuc’s cousin Danut, who lives in Chicago, told the Standard he moved to London in 2001 He said: “He was always a kind man but with the birth of his son he’d just started to take life seriously. 

“He worked for his son and his wife, wanted to provide the best for them, and he really tried, working a very dangerous job.”

Danut said he grown up with Mr Bulbuc before they both left Romania after leaving school.

He said: “I’m still shocked to hear about this horrible tragedy, I’m speechless.

“He was a loving, hard-working father who loved his wife and son. I really hope this is a nightmare and I’m still waiting to wake up.”

Mr Bulbuc’s younger brother Ioan, 27, also a tree surgeon, said he had worked in the industry for around a decade.

He said that their parents, who had recently visited the house they shared in Beckton, east London, were struggling with the news of their eldest son’s death.

A spokesman for the HSE said it was aware of the death and officers are assisting the Met in their investigation.

Regent Street on lockdown after suspect package in world famous toy shop Hamleys

Staff reporter(wp/es):

One of London's busiest shopping streets was placed on lockdown after a suspicious item was found in iconic toy shop Hamleys.

Police cordoned off a large swathe of Regent Street in the West End as they dealt with the security scare.

Shoppers were told to leave the world famous toy shop Hamleys just before 3pm, Scotland Yard said.

Shocked customers described the sound of sirens blaring as they were asked to leave the store.

One shopper, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Standard: “We were shopping in there and the fire alarms went off. 

"The store was hurriedly evacuated and when we got outside there were police vans and sirens and a cordon.”

Government to shut down £60 million Iraq war veterans inquiry

Pic:Sir Michael Fallon said the £60 million probe will end in the summer
Staff reporter(wp/es):

 A £60 million Government inquiry into allegations against Iraq war veterans will be shut down within months.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) will close in the summer and around 20 cases will be dealt with by the Royal Navy Police.

The decision comes in the wake of a scathing report by the Defence committee who said the probe subjected serving and retired troops to "deeply disturbing" treatment.

MPs set out a litany of failures about the way the Ministry of Defence, which created IHAT, has handled the probe.

They blamed the department for empowering law firms to generate cases that lacked credibility on an "industrial scale".

And they criticised it for "serious" failings after it handed over more than £110,829 to Abu Jamal, an Iraqi middleman, while he was employed by Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), the defunct firm behind many of the claims.

Phil Shiner, who ran PIL, has been struck off after being found to have acted dishonestly in bringing murder and torture claims against Iraq war veterans.

The committee said it was "deeply concerned" the MoD had used public funds to cover the costs of those who were bringing "spurious and unassessed" cases against the war veterans and about the lack of support for those accused.

IHAT investigators used "intimidatory tactics", including "deeply disturbing" methods such as impersonating the police. Serving and retired soldiers have also been spied on, the report found.

The damning report said the catalogue of serious failings in IHAT's conduct pointed to a loss of control in its management.

It added: "Both the MoD and IHAT have focused too much on satisfying the accusers and too little on defending those under investigation."

IHAT was set up by Labour in 2010 to assess claims of abuse by Iraqi civilians against troops who had served there.

It started out with 165 cases but the allegations rocketed. Most were generated by two law firms, PIL and Leigh Day.

The report states: "It is clear to us that legal firms were empowered by the MoD's approach to IHAT to generate cases against service personnel at an industrial level. The MoD cannot claim that it has been a victim of the industry; nor can it claim that it had no way of foreseeing the creation of this industry."

The Government said it had not been able to shut down IHAT sooner because the conduct of the investigations is under scrutiny by the High Court and the International Criminal Court.

Sir Michael said: "It was the MoD that supplied the main evidence that got Phil Shiner struck off for making false allegations against our Armed Forces. Exposing his dishonesty means many more claims he made can now be thrown out and the beginning of the end for IHAT.

"This will be a relief for our soldiers who have had allegations hanging over them for too long. Now we are taking action to stop such abuse of our legal system from happening again."

MPs were told that the war veterans had been "hung out to dry", with one becoming a recluse, because there had been a lack of military support.

"While the cost to the taxpayer is significant, the psychological and actual cost to individual soldiers is arguably greater," the report states.

"Their lives have been put on hold and their careers damaged, sometimes for years, because of allegations made against them - in many cases without any credible supporting evidence. The effects of this on the British military are profound and enduring."

The Defence subcommittee inquiry, chaired by former army captain Johnny Mercer, said Iraq veterans had been treated in an "unacceptable manner as a result of serving the United Kingdom".

"Throughout this process there has been an almost total disregard of the welfare of soldiers and their families," the Conservative MP said.

Chief of the General Staff General Sir Nicholas Carter said: "The army's leadership code requires the highest values and standards. It is right therefore that on the occasions that there are credible allegations of unacceptable behaviour they should be investigated.

"However, a significant number of claims made against our soldiers have not been credible. The recent exposure of unscrupulous law firms and vexatious claims has clearly shown this to be the case.”