Sexual offences rise on railways, as more than 2,000 crimes reported to police

Crime reporter(wp/es):

Sexual offences on Britain’s railways are on the rise with more than 2,000 crimes reported last year, official figures show.

The number of sexual offences committed has increased by 16 per cent, jumping to 2,742, although officers believe this may only be a fraction of crimes, as “there are still many more crimes of this type which go unreported.”

60 per cent of these crimes were committed against women, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

Figures of how many offences have been reported to BTP have been published in an annual report. Data reveals some 61,159 crimes were reported by BTP in 2017/18, up from 52,235 during the previous 12 months.

Violent crime accounts for nearly one in five of all cases after rising by 26 per cent to 11,711.

BTP said 63 per cent of these violent crimes were classed as “common assaults”, which involved no injury to the victim.

Offences involving knives or other weapons went up by 46 per cent to 206, while robbery jumped by 53 per cent to 553 recorded crimes.

BTP chief constable Paul Crowther said: "The chances of becoming a victim of crime on the rail network remains low.

"However, after a long period of steady decreases, both crimes per million passenger journeys and notifiable offences have increased."

Nineteen crimes in total were recorded per million passenger journeys.

Forces in England and Wales registered just under 1.4 million offences in the "violence against the person" category in 2017/18 - a rise of nearly a fifth (19 per cent) compared with the previous year.

BTP's figures show a number of other crimes increasing on the rail network, including throwing missiles at trains (up 35 per cent to 316), arson (up 93 per cent to 143), live cable theft (up 86 per cent to 158) and theft from vending machines (up 21 per cent to 240).

The report also addressed terrorism, making reference to the Manchester Arena attack and London attacks.

It read: “The current threat level for international terrorism in the UK is ‘severe’, which means an attack is highly likely.

“However, last year on two occasions the terrorist threat leave was raised to ‘critical’, meaning an attack was expected imminently.

“On both occasions, we mobilised additional officers and worked with our policing partners to increase the number of armed police officers patrolling the rail network to protect the public and rail staff.”

It also tackled the issue of County Lines, adding it has “identified 476 individuals associated with County Lines gangs using trains.”

131 of these individuals were thought to be frequent travellers, it added.

As well as looking at violent and sexual crimes, the annual report also listed incidents such as people trying to harm themselves on the railway and trespassers.

The total number of people known to take their lives on Britain’s railways was 310, compared to 292.

The report read: “We are pleased to report that the number of life-saving interventions increased by 648, with 1,917 people prevented from harming themselves on the railway.”

While more people were helped by life-saving interventions, BTP said the number of trespass incidents has reached its “biggest increase.”

The total number of lost minutes increased by 22 per cent and trespass now accounts for 43 per cent of overall disruption, up from 38 per cent last year.

The force said the increase in the total number of crimes is partly due to improving the way crime is recorded, which has increased accuracy and given victims and witnesses "more confidence to report crime".

Paul Plummer, chief executive of industry body the Rail Delivery Group, said: "The nature of some crimes is changing and as part of our long-term plan to change and improve, we are investing in new technology and innovations to make our railway even safer for our staff and customers."

Machine with power to detect hackers BEFORE they have committed a crime tested by Cambridge scientists

University reporter,Cambridge(wp):

A machine with the power to identify cyber-criminals who may be plotting to commit an offence has been tested successfully by experts. 

Scientists at Cambridge University have tested a system – likened to George Orwell’s "Thought Police" - for scanning the web to identify potential cyber-criminals based on how they were commenting in forums.

But the researchers who piloted the programme denied it would be used by police forces to lock people up before they commit a crime, like in the Tom Cruise movie and dystopian story by Philip K. Dick, “Minority Report”.

Computer scientists used machine learning to crunch swathes of data from 113 known cyber-attackers and built algorithms to compare the data to thousands of underground forum users, scanning comments for the warning signs that they may be planning a cyber-attack.

The findings come as the need for methods to prevent cyber attacks is growing. This week it emerged that Vladimir Putin's spies had attempted to hack the international watchdog investigating the Salisbury nerve agent poisonings, Foreign Office computers in Whitehall and defence laboratories in Porton Down.

They whittled the accounts down to 80 individuals who were highly likely to become an "actor" in a cyber-attack, and when the team went back to read the comments first hand, the researchers said it was clear there was certainly cause for suspicion.

The computer "identified variables relating to forum activity that predict the likelihood a user will become an actor of interest to law enforcement,and would therefore benefit the most from intervention," said the published paper.

"This work provides the first step towards identifying ways to deter the involvement of young people away from a career in cybercrime," the paper said.

Dr Alice Hutchings worked alongside the Cambridge Cybercrime Centre at the university’s Department of Computer Science and Technology on the research.

She said the team looked at a large pool of a quarter of million users and believe the system could be used up by cyber-crime police as a way of detecting “risky” individuals.

The technique worked by processing some 30 million posts from the Hackforums website, looking for key words and references to criminal activity, such as “DDoS” referring to a Denial of Service attack, or people who discussed distributing malware and “account cracking”.

"The National Crime Agency does have a preventative strategy within their cyber-crime unit," she added. "They've said they want to be able to divert people away from serious activity."

But she dreads the idea that it could be used by so-called “Thought Police” to lock-up potential criminals pre-emptively.

The New Scientist made the comparison between the Cambridge experiment and the authoritarian police in George Orwell’s 1984, in which “Thinkpol” officers seek out “Thoughtcrimes” – punishing people for believing anything that goes against the government.

But it could perhaps play the role of a "Thought Social Worker", using warning signs to intervene before young people turn into criminals, the scientist said.

Dr Hutchings said: "I deplore the idea of thought police arresting people before they commit crimes.

"You shouldn't be held liable for something you've just thought of doing, or spoken about but we need some kind of system to intervene when someone is at risk."

"The aim of doing this is to be able to divert people away from the criminal justice system, by identifying who is most at risk of being prosecuted and putting them in a pro-social pathway. I don't want young people to be arrested, I want to see a successful intervention. 

"Young people are being drawn to this kind of activity, and they are often very talented and intelligent. When they end up in the criminal justice system it is very stigmatising - they end up with fewer prospects, and it can ruin their entire lives."

Cyber crimes have had devastating consequences in the past and can sometimes by driven by tech-minded youngsters.

One young hacker from Hertfordshire created a programme that fuelled more than 1.7 million attacks last year causing millions in damage when he was only 15.

His "TitaniumStresser" code allowed customers (he charged a membership of £250) to disrupt any website they liked, causing immeasurable losses to thousands of individuals, businesses and other organisations.

The need to prevent cyber-attacks is incredibly pressing today.

Government officials this week accused Russia of conducting a Blitzkrieg of attacks, against chemicals weapons watchdogs in the UK, US and Netherlands – allegedly by the Kremlin’s own “Sandworm” hacking unit.

Four Russian men with diplomatic passports were arrested in the Netherlands after an attempted attack on the OPCW laboratories, which are aiding the UK in investigating the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal anf his daughter Yulia.

The team were attempting a “brazen” close-range hack into the facility's systems, and it followed a previous attack against Porton Down – one of the UK’s most secretive military research centres.

Despite mounting evidence, the Kremlin continues to deny any involvement, calling the case a widening of the UK governments “propaganda” campaign against Russia.

But it is just the latest in Mr Putin’s online war – Russia has been blamed for playing a role in the distortion of the Brexit referendum and the US election which saw Donald Trump take the presidency.

Hurricane Leslie could hit Britain, bringing winds of up to 80mph

Staff reporter(wp/es):

A category 1 hurricane is moving across the Atlantic Ocean and could hit the UK next week.

According to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, Hurricane Leslie is beginning to turn northwards into the Atlantic Ocean.

It is currently battering parts of the southern US, Bahamas and Bermuda packing winds of 80 miles per hour.

The Met Office says there are many possible outcomes for the hurricane. It could pass over the UK or could change direction.

Before the possible hit from Hurricane Leslie, the south of the UK is set to bask in warmer than average temperatures.

Simon Patridge, a Met Office forecaster told the Standard: “Today, in the south and east of the UK, temperatures will be around 21C, around three degrees warmer than average. In the west it will be a cloudy day while there will be sunshine in the south east.”

While the south feels the warmer weather, parts of the north of England and Scotland will be hit with a band of rain.

Looking forward to the weekend, it will be remarkably colder with temperatures in the north on Sunday dropping to 10C.

Mr Partridge said: “On Saturday the south east will be cooler with temperatures reaching around 12-14C.

“While on Sunday there will be frost, and some patches of rain across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.

“Further south it will be brighter and drier due to winds dropping with temperatures reaching highs of 15C.”

Next week will continue with a similar pattern, according to the Met Office.

Boy, 15, knifed in 'street fight' in North London

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A boy has been stabbed during a street fight in north London.

Emergency crews found a 15-year-old male suffering knife woundsin Derby Road’s junction with Lincoln Road in Enfield.

He was taken to hospital where his condition was being assessed.

One man was arrested at the scene for possession of an offensive weapon, but he is not believed to be involved in the attack on the victim.

The attack happened just after 8.15pm on Wednesday.

Police are appealing for anyone with information to call 101, quoting reference 7476 of October 3. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

London mayor accused of misleading Londoners over delayed Crossrail project

staff reporter(wp/es):

Sadiq Khan was today accused of misleading Londoners over the delayed and over-budget Crossrail scheme.

The Mayor has claimed he knew only two days before a public announcement that the £15.4bn line would not be ready for the Queen to open on December 9.

But a cross-party City Hall committee today said it was “highly likely” Mr Khan had been informed around six weeks earlier about “very likely” delays.

In a highly-critical letter, the London Assembly transport panel told him: “It is arguable that maintaining that you were completely uninformed is misleading.”

Crossrail is now not due to open before Autumn 2019. It has required a £590m bail-out from public funds to cope with spiralling costs.

The 10-year east-west project, also known as the Elizabeth line, has been hit by construction and engineering problems, including delays to stations and an electrical explosion. 

Engineers are now struggling to get software on the new trains to understand three different signalling systems used on different sections of the line, including the tunnel between Paddington and Whitechapel.

Problems were first made public at a TfL board meeting in January. Mr Khan, who chairs the TfL board, halted the discussion and moved it into private session.

Subsequent TfL board discussions about Crossrail have mostly been held in private. 

Transport minister Jo Johnson announced to Parliament on July 24 that an extra £300m was needed to finish the central tunnel, plus £290m on existing rail tracks between Shenfield and Liverpool Street and Paddington and Heathrow.

TfL made a statement to the London Stock Exchange on the same day. Neither statement mentioned the delay in opening.

This was despite Crossrail executives telling the Crossrail board five days earlier that “they could no longer have confidence in the date of opening for December”, according to evidence given to the assembly.

Mr Khan received a face-to-face update from Crossrail on “increasing pressures” on July 26, six weeks before the public announcement.

Industry insiders told the Standard there were repeated indications that the project was running behind schedule.

Crossrail announced its revised opening schedule on August 31. When Mr Khan was called before the assembly on September 6, he said he had only been told on August 29 about the inability to open in December.  

Today’s letter accuses Mr Khan, TfL and the Government of deliberately hiding the extent of the problems from the public.

It questions whether Crossrail waited until it received the £590m bailout before revealing that the opening date would be missed.

It said there had been a “number of worrying decisions being made by all involved in the project, and a continuing lack of openness”. 

This had turned public statements to Parliament and the TfL board “into little more than theatrical performances”. 

The letter said: “We can never again have an absurd situation where the [TfL] board publicly discusses a Crossrail paper suggesting the project is on track, as it did on July 25, before turning off the cameras for the ‘real’ discussion where bad news is shared.”

It said that if Mr Khan and Ministers had been uninformed, this can only have been done to allow them to dodge awkward questions. 

“This is completely inappropriate and damages the reputations of all involved,” the letter said.

It said this could harm the chances of delivering Crossrail 2, the £30bn proposed north-south line linking Surrey and Hertfordshire.

Officials are now locked in talks over who should pay for the overrun. One source suggested the additional bill could reach £1 billion. TfL will lose £20m in Crossrail fares this year.

Transport committee chairwoman Caroline Pidgeon said: “The evidence we have received shows it is highly likely that the Mayor was informed on or soon after July 19 that there was very likely to be a delay.  “It may have been justified to wait for clearer information before a public announcement. However, it is arguable that maintaining that he was completely uninformed is misleading.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Khan said: “The Mayor did not hide his anger and disappointment when Crossrail announced that the central section of the project wouldn’t be opening until Autumn next year - anger and frustration made worse by the length of the delay and how late in the project it was announced. 

“The Mayor has expressed his frustrations directly to the leadership of Crossrail – both privately and during meetings in public.

“The Mayor has now asked Crossrail and TfL to look into whether the joint sponsors [TfL and DfT] should have been made aware of the revised schedule at an earlier date, and whether the right scrutiny and oversight is in place as the project moves to its final phase.”

A Crossrail spokesman said: “Crossrail has been reporting cost and schedule pressures to [the DfT and TfL]. At the Crossrail board on July 19 a schedule risk was flagged and the executive were tasked to report back and present a formal recommendation to a special meeting of the board in August.  

“At the Crossrail board meeting on August 29 it was confirmed that it was now no longer possible to meet the December 2018 opening date. This was communicated to sponsors on August 30 and announced at the earliest opportunity on August 31.”

The Department for Transport declined to comment.

Schoolboy denies claim he had sex with teacher was 'fantasy'

Pic:Wilson later told the boy she was pregnant and that he was the father, the court heard ( PA )
Crime reporter(wp/es):

A schoolboy who says he had sex with a science teacher in an aeroplane toilet has insisted his claim was true and not a fantasy, a court has heard. 

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he had sex with teacher Eleanor Wilson, 29, as they returned from an overseas school trip. 

He denies claims he was infatuated with the teacher, insisting his claim was true and not a fantasy, and said that they carried on seeing each other when they got home. 

The boy told Bristol Crown Court that he and the 29-year-old defendant developed a “bond” while they were on an overseas camping trip in 2015. 

The court heard that Wilson, then aged 26, gave the boy her telephone number which he saved on his phone as “Smurfette”. 

It is alleged that Wilson and the boy began kissing and cuddling in seats at the rear of the plane before she "beckoned" him to the toilets where she performed a sex act on him before having full intercourse.

Anna Midgley, defending, suggested to the boy that the flight would have been busy with other teachers checking on pupils, fellow passengers and cabin crew walking around and what he claims happened did not take place.

"When you came out of the toilet you were close enough together, making the risk that other staff and pupils and cabin staff could have seen you together," she said.

"It's just not true. Nothing had happened," she suggested.

Ms Midgley also suggested the other allegations of kissing, cuddling and holding hands, which allegedly occurred in the boy's bedroom and on visits to Tintern Abbey and the Ashton Court estate, also did not happen.

"Would you accept that you were infatuated with her when you got back from the trip, thinking about her all the time, wanting to be with her and not thinking clearly?" she asked.

"But she never approached you physically or sexually - that might be what you wanted - but it never happened.

"You were thinking about her a lot, and you were infatuated with her, and you had told your friends that things had happened that in fact had not happened.

"You had boasted to your friends and that led to rumours starting and someone started to blackmail her about that. Your parents started to question you and the school started to question you.

"At that point, you couldn't say none of this wasn't true or that it didn't happen and you said you had sex on an aeroplane because that's what you told people."

The boy, who was giving evidence from behind a screen, replied: "That is incorrect."

Wilson, of The Rope Walk, Dursley, Gloucestershire, denies four charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

The jury was told the boy had written down his feelings in a note on his mobile phone after he claims Wilson told him she was pregnant with his child and was having an abortion.

Police, who recovered the note, did not find any other conversations between the boy and Wilson on his phone, the court heard.

The boy told the jury he had deleted them. When asked why, he replied: "Because it was always a risky situation to keep such material on my telephone."

He insisted the contents of the note were true and the details of the alleged incidents at Tintern Abbey and Ashton Court had happened.

Ms Midgley referred to an occasion during the trip when he asked to speak to the defendant alone.

"To Miss Wilson, it would be obvious you were upset and she told you that these feelings brought about by this trip and the reflections about what you wanted to achieve and the trip allowed you to reflect and make your mum proud.

"Do you remember getting more upset? She put her arm around you while you were having those conversations. Nothing more than that.

"You initiated the conversation about your girlfriend. Miss Wilson was saying the important thing was that you were happy and she jokingly said to you: 'Wipe your tears away because girls don't fancy crying boys.' Do you remember her saying that?"

The boy replied: "Possibly."

He agreed that Wilson said to him to "get away from bad influences" and "get on with school work".

Ms Midgley said: "She didn't tell you to end your relationship with your girlfriend?"

He replied: "I do not agree."

The trial continues.

Theresa May will use crucial Tory Conference address to say she sees a future 'full of promise' for Brexit Britain

Political reporter(wp/es):

Theresa May will declare that Britain’s post-Brexit future is “full of promise” as she seeks to rally her fractious party behind her with a keynote conference speech.

The Prime Minister will make a direct appeal to mainstream Labour voters disillusioned by Jeremy Corbyn's left-wing agenda to switch to the "decent, moderate, patriotic" Tories.

It comes as Mrs May faces pressure to announce when she will stand down after senior ministers said it was now a question of “when, not if”, it was reported last night.

Her speech at Conservative Conference today will also come just a day after Boris Johnson received a thunderous standing ovation as he branded her Brexit plans a “constitutional outrage”.

The former foreign secretary’s fierce criticism of Mrs May’s Chequers proposals came at his hotly-anticipated speech at a fringe event at the Birmingham conference yesterday.

Several Cabinet ministers have said they want the Prime Minister to step down immediately after Brexit in March next year, according to the Telegraph.

But others said they are prepared to give her until 2020 if she uses the next party conference to announce her departure date, saying it’s a case of “when, not if”, the newspaper reported.

In the face of this growing pressure surrounding her future, Mrs May will use her keynote speech today to focus on her hopes for a brighter future for the UK after Brexit.

“I passionately believe that our best days lie ahead of us and that our future is full of promise," she will say. "Don't let anyone tell you we don't have what it takes: we have everything we need to succeed."

In a speech entitled "Our Future Is In Our Hands", Mrs May will tell delegates that countries across the world stand ready to trade with the UK.

And she will promise that at this "moment of opportunity" the Conservatives will always act in the "national interest" and put the needs of hard-working people first.

In an appeal to Labour voters to consider switching, Mrs May will say: "Millions of people who have never supported our party in the past are appalled by what Jeremy Corbyn has done to Labour.

"They want to support a party that is decent, moderate and patriotic. One that puts the national interest first. Delivers on the issues they care about. And is comfortable with modern Britain in all its diversity.

"We must show everyone in this country that we are that party.

"A party that conserves the best of our inheritance but is not afraid of change. A party of patriotism but not nationalism. A party that believes in business but is not afraid to hold businesses to account.

"A party that believes in the good that government can do but knows that government will never have all the answers. A party that believes your success in life should not be defined by who you love, your faith, the colour of your skin, who your parents were, or where you were raised - but by your talent and hard work.

"Above all a party of Unionism, not just of four proud nations, but of all our people.

"A party not for the few, not even for the many, but for everyone who is willing to work hard and do their best."