Police hunt car that struck and killed four-year-old boy in Leeds

Staff reporter(wp):

Tributes have been left to a four-year-old boy who died after being hit by a car outside a medical centre in Leeds.

Flowers and a teddy were tied to traffic lights on a crossing outside the Reginald Centre on Chapeltown Road.

West Yorkshire police said officers were called to the scene of the collision at about 4.50pm on Saturday.

A spokesman said: “Emergency services, including ambulance, were at the scene in three minutes and found a four-year-old child with serious injuries.

“The young boy was taken to Leeds General Infirmary and was sadly pronounced deceased.” The child’s parents are being supported by specialist officers.

Police said a Vauxhall Corsa was travelling away from the city centre on Chapeltown Road northbound when it hit the child.

Officers are appealing for information from anyone who may have witnessed the collision or seen the vehicle beforehand. There have been no arrests.

Markings made on the road by collision investigators appear to show that the incident happened on or close to the pelican crossing outside the Reginald Centre, a community hub housing a medical centre as well as council services.

Chapeltown Road is a busy road into the city and the area is usually bustling with people, with a number of shops and cafes close by.

There was no sign of emergency services activity on Sunday morning and traffic was running on the road as normal.

Man, 26, knifed to death during row in front of horrified crowds

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A young man became the sixth person to be stabbed to death on London’s streets in just six days after he was attacked during a row in front of a crowd of horrified witnesses.

The 26-year-old victim was knifed repeatedly when he became involved in an argument with another person in a street packed with onlookers in Peckham Rye on Friday afternoon, police said.

Paramedics fought to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene in Rye Lane shortly before 4pm.

Shop workers and business owners were heard screaming and crying as they ran out into the street to try to save the man after the attack before emergency services arrived.

Video footage and pictures posted on social media showed a swarm of police cars and sirens blaring as people looked on in the aftermath in broad daylight.

Scotland Yard said on Saturday that officers were still trying to piece together the events that led to the victim’s death. 

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, who is leading the investigation, said: “At this early stage we believe he was involved in an altercation with another person prior to being stabbed. 

“The incident drew a large crowd of onlookers who were on the street and in shops nearby at the time the incident happened.”

He appealed to anyone with mobile phone footage of the incident to contact the police urgently. 

Emergency services raced to the scene of the stabbing near to the junction with Blenheim Grove after 999 calls from members of the public at about 3.15pm.

The victim was pronounced dead in the street about 35 minutes later despite the efforts of paramedics.

A witness, an unnamed shopkeeper, told Southwark News that two men were arguing for about 15 minutes and were being held back by others.

He told the newspaper that as the argument escalated, one of the men broke free and stabbed the other.

A resident named Laura, who declined to give her second name, told the Weastar Times she was in the kitchen at the back of her flat when she heard a bang “and women from the salons screaming”.

She said: “My flat looks out on Blenheim Grove, the man fell across the road from me.

"I heard a bang which I think was the man falling into one of the metal shutters.

"I could just see lots of women in the road screaming. There are six salons in the road all next to each other. 

"It was more the screaming which drew me to the window. They were all in the road screaming and crying. 

"I couldn't see the man, he was surrounded by women."

She added: "It's sad a young man lost his life today."

Passer-by Chad O’Carroll said: “Looked pretty serious.

“They were holding back a tall man who was yelling at the police and looked like he was in a state of shock.”

Commuters pouring out of Peckham Rye station were met with a massive police cordon as officers and police cars blocked the road at the corner with Blenheim Grove.

A swathe of road was taped off by police as officers directed people around the crime scene.

The victim’s next of kin have been informed and a post-mortem examination is scheduled to take place on Saturday afternoon.

Formal identification is yet to take place.

There have been no arrests and enquiries continue.

English secondary schools 'facing perfect storm of pressures'

Educational reporter(wp):

Secondary schools in England are facing a “perfect storm” of pressures that could have severe consequences for children, headteachers have said.

Budget cuts, changes to exams, problems recruiting teachers and Brexit are causing major upheaval, according to the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT).

The union is also expected to argue against government proposals to expand grammar schools at its annual conference this weekend.

Speaking ahead of the Telford meeting, the NAHT general secretary, Russell Hobby, said: “The combination of challenges facing secondary schools and their students has never been greater.

“Many school leaders are concerned about maintaining high standards in the face of simultaneous upheaval on so many fronts. It’s a perfect storm. The government is loading more uncertainty onto the secondary system than ever before. There is a real risk it will break.”

Hobby repeated warnings that schools are facing “unacceptable levels of financial pressure”, with an NAHT survey showing that 72% of headteachers believe that school budgets will be unsustainable in two years’ time.

"This is a result of the government’s choice to freeze spending and keep it at 2010 levels for each pupil. The 2010 cash isn’t going as far as it used to. You can’t expect it to. But the government is flatly refusing to admit the reality.”

Ministers have argued that school funding is at record levels, and that this will increase further as pupil numbers rise. The outgoing NAHT president, Kim Johnson, attacked suggestions that schools need to make efficiency savings.

“It’s quite insulting to have ministers say to you: ‘You need to renegotiate your photocopying contract, perhaps think about the paper you’re getting in, club together with six other schools and you’ll get it cheaper.’”

are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain staff, the NAHT said, particularly in key subjects such as maths, science and languages.

“Year after year, the government has missed its own targets for teacher recruitment,” Hobby said. “Thirty per cent of new teachers leave the profession after five years.

“NAHT’s own research shows school leaders have struggled or failed to recruit in eight out of 10 cases this year. Recruitment has never been more challenging.”

Schools are also dealing with exam changes this summer, including a new GCSE grading system. There are also concerns about a government expectation that 90% of pupils will study English Baccalaureate subjects – English, maths, science, history or geography and a language - narrowing the curriculum, the NAHT said, and uncertainty about how Brexit will affect the thousands of EU nationals who work in schools.

The NAHT’s motion on selective schools says the union should “campaign vigorously to reject the proposed expansion of selection” in the absence of “any compelling evidence that it promotes social mobility”.

Theresa May has said the policy will help to create a place at a good school for every child and argued that many children’s school choices are determined by where they live or their parents’ wealth.

Acclaimed breast surgeon with 'God complex' harmed patients with unnecessary operations

Pic:Ian Paterson has been convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding

Health reporter(wp/es):

A breast surgeon who carried out numerous "completely unnecessary" operations on female patients – possibly for financial gain – has been convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent.

Acclaimed surgeon Ian Paterson, who was also convicted of three counts of unlawful wounding, sobbed as he was found guilty.

He was described as having a “God complex” and the court heard how he lied to patients and exaggerated - or invented - the risk of cancer to convince them to go under the knife.

The 59-year-old did so for "obscure motives" which may have included a desire to "earn extra money", his trial at Nottingham Crown Court heard.

The Scottish-born surgeon had maintained that all the operations were necessary – but the jury agreed with the prosecution that Paterson carried out "extensive, life-changing operations for no medically justifiable reason".

And figures revealed the NHS has paid out nearly £18 million, of which £9.5 million was damages, following claims from nearly 800 patients of Paterson.

Paterson's seven-week trial heard harrowing testimony from 10 patients treated between 1997 and 2011, with one victim telling jurors: "That person has ruined my life."

The victims told the court they believed they were seriously ill after seeing Paterson, with one patient saying she was described as a "cancer ticking bomb" and another convinced she had cancer - rather than merely being at risk of developing it.

Others who suffered at his hands included Leanne Joseph, who is said to have agreed to two "unnecessary operations", leaving her unable to breastfeed, after he told her it was a "small price to pay for her life".

The mother - aged 25 when she had the operations in 2006 - was left paranoid and developed OCD after later giving birth, fearing for the immune system of her daughter who is now eight years old.

Another victim, Joanne Lowson, was left with a "significant deformity in her visible cleavage area" after a pair of unneeded operations on her left breast by Paterson in 2010. 

Detective Sergeant Dale Robertson said: "They (the victims) have been traumatised, they have been subjected to a very uncomfortable experience.” 

He said that Paterson's motives "remained obscure", adding: "We have considered elements, obviously financial being one.

“We can speculate with regards to hubris, over-confidence in his own status as a top breast surgeon, excessive pride in his work, playing God with people's lives, enjoying being able to tell someone he has saved their life.”

Judge Jeremy Baker released Paterson on conditional bail ahead of sentencing in May. The maximum sentence for wounding with intent is life.

Man left fighting for life after being stabbed with screwdriver in ‘vicious and shocking’ attack

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A man was left fighting for life after he was stabbed during a “vicious” mugging in front of horrified parents and children in a busy park.

The 31-year-old victim was attacked with what is believed to be a screwdriver in Dulwich Park, south London, just after 1pm on Thursday.

The Italian national, who lives in south east London, had been sitting on a patch of grass with a fellow dog walker when the man on the bicycle demanded his phone then stabbed him.

The friend who was with him, who had her handbag stolen by the thief, told the Weastar Times: “It was a vicious and shocking attack… now my friend is in intensive care and we are praying he will be ok.”

“Me and my friend were just sitting on the lawn with our dogs who were playing by us,” she said. “I noticed a guy on his bike crossing the grass.

“He returned within a few seconds, got off his bike and raised a sharp objected and said to my friend ‘give me your phone’.

“My friend just said ‘what?’ then he stabbed him in the head. There was no time for him to even get out his phone and give it to him.

“The guy shouted at me ‘you don’t move’ and I raised my handbag towards him as if to say ‘just take my bag’.

“Then the guy stabbed my friend again, this time in the left side, took my bag and rode off.”

The freelance writer described how she used her scarf to stem blood coming from her friend’s head, before other members of the public came over and helped him before emergency services arrived.

An air ambulance landed near a packed children’s playground less than 100 yards away and the man was rushed to King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill where he remained in a critical condition today.

Parents said top private schools in the area including Alleyn’s and Dulwich College sent a message warning them not to allow their children to go to the park because of the incident.

The man was seen cycling out of the park at Court Lane. Police believe he attempted to use the woman’s contactless payment card in a nearby shop.

Gerry Fletcher, who was in the park with a friend, said: “It’s just horrific. It’s such a lovely, peaceful park and the playground would have packed with children. We just hope the man is going to be ok.”

A parks worker told the Standard: “We were told by police to look out for any screwdrivers that might be in bins. Police are checking all the bins this morning. It’s a shocking thing to have happened.”

The victim appealed for any witnesses to anyone who knows anything to come forward.

“It was over a phone, my bag, which had just £50 inside" she said. “And now my friend is fighting for his life."

There have been no arrests. The stabbing is being investigated by Southwark Police.

A Met Police spokesman said: “The man was taken to a south London hospital where his condition is described as critical. His next of kin have been informed.

“It is believed the stabbing may have followed the robbery of a woman by a third party a short distance away.”

Facebook and Google were conned out of $100m in phishing scheme

Pic:google&facebook
ICT reporter(wp):

Google and Facebook were phished for over $100m, it has been reported, proving not even the biggest technology companies in the world are immune from the increasingly sophisticated attacks of online scammers.

Last month it was reported that two major tech companies were tricked by a Lithuanian man into sending him over $100m (£77m). Evaldas Rimasauskas, 48, was charged with wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft for impersonating Quanta Computer – a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that includes Google, Facebook and Apple as clients.

Now an investigation by Fortune has shown that the two firms Rimasauskas reportedly sent fraudulent invoices to were Facebook and Google, who both paid out over $100m.

Facebook said in a statement: “We recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation.” Likewise Google said it had “detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities. We recouped the funds and we’re pleased this matter is resolved.”

The case shows just how big an issue phishing and online fraud has become, with phishing attacks conning people and companies all over the world out of significant sums of money.

Where the age old Nigerian Prince scams still operate with bogus claims of money, techniques used by the thieves have become increasingly sophisticated. The National Audit Office warned in December that the UK was ill prepared for online fraud and that it cost UK consumers at least £14.8bn last year, of which £4.2bn is thought to be hidden and unreported losses from crime such as mass marketing fraud and counterfeit goods.

In January, accountants KPMG recorded the value of fraud committed in the UK last year reported to the court system to have exceeded £1.1bn – a 55% year-on-year rise highlighting a dramatic rise in cybercrime.

From costly conveyancing scams to fake IT support, it’s more important than ever to double-check anything asking for personal details or money. But when not even Facebook and Google, who make technology that is meant to help protect against online scammers, get tricked, it paints a grim picture for your average user.

UK GDP growth slower than expected as inflation bites

Business reporter(wp):

The UK economy suffered a sharp slowdown in the opening months of this year, as the post-referendum rise in living costs took its toll on British households and hit consumer spending.

GDP growth fell more than expected to 0.3% in the first quarter from 0.7% in the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.

The official figures add to signs that the UK economy’s resilience in the wake of the Brexit vote is now waning and will come as a blow to Theresa May’s government as it banks on a solid victory in the snap election on 8 June. 

Many economists expect the slowdown to continue as higher inflation dents consumer spending, a key driver for the UK economy. But the deterioration is still far off the Brexit-related slump some commentators had predicted.

“The first quarter’s slowdown was led by consumers, whose incomes are under pressure from slowing employment and wage growth as well as rising inflation,” said Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at the consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics.

“One quarter of slow growth is not definitive proof that the economy is on the ropes. But the pressure on consumers’ incomes looks set to build this year as retailers pass on higher import prices.”

The figures suggested consumer-facing sectors such as shops and hotels have been hurt in recent months by the squeeze on Britons’ spending power from the pound’s plunge since the Brexit vote. Sterling’s weakness makes imports to the UK such as food and fuel more expensive. That factor combined with higher crude oil prices has lifted inflation to its highest level for more than three years.

Economists had predicted a more modest slowdown to 0.4% growth, according to a Reuters poll.

The 0.3% growth rate was the slowest for a year. There was also a sharp slowdown in GDP per head, which adjusts for the size of the population and is generally seen as a better guide to prosperity than mere GDP. It edged up just 0.1% in the first quarter after rising 0.5% in the previous quarter.

Statisticians said the biggest drag on growth was the retail sector, echoing other signs shoppers are cutting back. Growth in the services sector, which makes up more than three quarters of the UK economy, slowed markedly to a two-year low of 0.3% from 0.8% in the final quarter of 2016.

A leading thinktank underscored the pressures on household budgets as it noted the weakness in wage growth started long before the Brexit vote. After adjusting for inflation, employees’ average earnings were still substantially below pre-recession levels, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in a new analysis. On current forecasts, earnings would still not have fully recovered by the end of the next parliament.

“A period of this length over which earnings have fallen is unprecedented in modern times. They had started to recover a little between 2014 and 2016, but rising inflation linked to the fall in the value of the pound since the EU referendum has put a stop to that modest recovery,” said IFS senior research economist Jonathan Cribb.

The ONS figures showed industrial production and construction output also slowed in the first quarter. But economists noted that their fortunes could yet improve over coming months. There have been signs that the weak pound has already helped exporters by making their goods and services more competitive overseas.

“The long-awaited slowdown is finally coming but I’d be wary of over-interpreting today’s numbers,” said Ian Stewart, the chief economist at Deloitte.

“Quarterly GDP growth is choppy and prone to revision. Inflation will continue to squeeze the consumer but the outlook for manufacturing and exports has brightened. Growth is slowing, but this looks like a cooling, not collapse, in UK activity.”

Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank, was also cautiously optimistic about the UK’s longer-term prospects.

“The fears leading up to Brexit were that growth would stall due to a dive in confidence, hiring and investment. That hasn’t happened. What did happen is the pound dived, pushing inflation sharply higher and that is causing consumer spending and hence overall growth to slow,” he said.

“The good news is that the surge in inflation is probably temporary and the squeeze on growth should pass. However, it is probably going to take another year before growth is back on an upwards trajectory.”

Economists at Barclays said GDP growth had come in weaker than the Bank of England had expected and strengthened the case for keeping interest rates at their record low of 0.25% this year and next.