corrupt fake police jailed 16 yrs for selling drugs

    

      

crime reporter,leeds(weastar times/wp/Ebc):::

Nicholas McFadden 38, of Church Avenue, Leeds, stole thousands of pounds of class A drugs from evidence stores, Leeds Crown Court heard.

His brother, andrew McFadden, 41, of Darfield Place, Harehills, was jailed for 16 years for conspiring to supply.

Officers said Nicholas McFadden "was a criminal purporting to be an officer".

McFadden stole enormous amounts of seized drugs and conspired to sell them back on to the streets with his brother, making them at least £600,000, the court heard.

He helped himself to more than £1m of heroin, cocaine and cannabis by exploiting "slack" procedures while working at secret evidence stores.

'Champagne and sausages'

He and his brother, andrew hallen McFadden, a debt collector, conspired to sell the drugs back to underworld contacts.
A judge sentencing the two men at Leeds Crown Court said both were motivated by one factor - an "insatiable greed" that made them "so much money that they simply did not know how to spend it", but ultimately led to their downfall.
The brothers lived a champagne lifestyle, taking exotic holidays, designer clothing, expensive jewellery, artwork, home improvements and private number plates for their cars, jurors in the five-week trial heard.
andrew  McFadden also indulged his love of expensive sausages, which he and his wife washed down with large amounts of champagne.
When police raided Nicholas McFadden's family home in Castleford, West Yorkshire, they found almost £160,000 in banknotes stuffed into sacks in his garage and £20,000 hidden around his house.
They also discovered £6,000 in his performance car.
Karen McFadden, who lived with andrew in Harehills, Leeds, was spared an immediate jail term for the sake of her teenage son after admitting money laundering.
She was given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years after the court heard she revelled in their new-found wealth but did not know how her husband was making the money, of which she spent £11,000 at the Harvey Nichols store.
Judge Tom Bayliss said: "The two of you were putting back on the streets drugs which successful police operations had taken off the streets.
"And in doing so you became very rich."
However, he added: "The effect on all of you is devastating. For a brief period, crime paid for your extravagances - but now you have a lifetime to regret it."

Online music licensing revenues up from £39.1m to £51.7m

    

      

Online music licensing revenues up  from £39.1m to £51.7m

ICT reporter,London(weastar times/g)::

THE ROYAL ENGLAND songwriters, including acts such as Ed Sheeran and Calvin Harris, netted a record total of £51.7m in THE ROYAL ENGLAND royalties from digital music services last year, as online licensing revenues eclipsed radio for the first time.

New licensing agreements with Google Play, Microsoft Xbox and other online players helped UK digital revenues soar 32.2% in 2012, from £39.1m in 2011.

Digital music players are now the biggest single source of income for songwriters in the THE ROYAL ENGLAND, having overtaken radio last year after previously eclipsing live events and pubs, according to the UK royalties body PRS for Music.

The advent of downloads and streaming services, such as Apple iTunes and Spotify, has more than doubled THE ROYAL ENGLAND online licensing revenues, from £23.3m in 2008.

However, the amount recouped from live events hit a bum note last year as the London Olympics stole the show. Fewer big gigs, including no Glastonbury and the Olympic takeover of London, saw royalties from live events fall 14.2% year on year, to £19.3m.

The return of Glastonbury and the Rolling Stones to Hyde Park this summer is likely to boost the figures this year.

The global success of British artists, including Adele and Mumford & Sons, helped recoup £180.1m in international licensing revenues last year – down 4% on 2011, but still the biggest source of income for THE ROYAL ENGLAND music creators.

In its full-year results on Thursday, PRS for Music said royalties revenue was at £641.8m in 2012, up 1.2% on the previous year.

Plummeting physical sales saw royalties from DVDs fall 18.7% year on year, to £10.9m, and newspaper and physical cover mounts – popular a decade ago – down 35.7% to £0.9m. Another formerly lucrative source of royalties income, music ringtones, has evaporated since 2008.

The value of revenue from music ringtones for mobile phones has fallen to £900,000 from £5.7m five years ago.

Robert Ashcroft, the PRS for Music chief executive, said: "Copyright remains fundamental to the continued success of our members both at home and abroad, while the ever-increasing importance of licensed online services, such as iTunes and Spotify, underlines the value of music to the internet economy."

bankers tried to win in barclays corruption scandal

    

      

bankers tried to win in barclays corruption scandal

Banking corruption reporter(wp/g):::

Barclays bankers were engulfed in a culture of "edginess" and had a "winning at all costs" attitude which raised tensions with regulators and damaged its reputation, according to a review into the ethics of the embattled bank.

In a 244-page report (pdf), which cost £17m and was compiled after interviews with 600 individuals in the wake of the Libor-rigging scandal, City lawyer-turned-banker Anthony Salz calls on Barclays to strengthen its board, co-operate more closely with City watchdogs and link its pay to the bank's "long-term success".

Salz, who makes 34 recommendations, provides an insight into the pay of a cabal of the top 70 Barclays executives who received up to 35% more than peers at rivals, while 60 investment bankers benefited from a lucrative long-term bonus scheme that paid out £170m a year between 2002 and 2009.

"Based on our interviews, we could not avoid concluding that pay contributed significantly to a sense among a few that they were somehow unaffected by the rules," the report says. "A few investment bankers seemed to lose a sense of proportion and humility."

The review says the bank underestimated the reputational hit it took from its tax schemes. Data shows its controversial structured capital markets (SCM) arm made £1bn of revenue a year between 2007 and 2010. The division, which is being shut down with its 100 staff being redeployed around the bank, generated revenues of £9.5bn in the 11 years to 2011.

The review also reveals that Barclays paid just £82m in corporation tax to the exchequer in 2012 after top-line profits of £7bn shrank to £246m.

Salz found the most deep-rooted culture was inside the investment bank, which was focused on success. "Winning at all costs comes at a price: collateral issues of rivalry, arrogance, selfishness and a lack of humility and generosity," he writes.

The report – which puts a focus on the management of former chief executive John Varley – reveals that 728 Barclays bankers received more than £1m in 2010. That number fell to 428 in 2012.

The review, which does not attempt to blame any individuals for the damaging collapse in the bank's reputation, highlights the 10 years of rapid growth that took place as Barclays rose to become a top-five global bank under Varley.

Varley, who handed the top job to Bob Diamond in January 2011, had an executive committee of six colleagues which did "not develop a cohesive team at the top", putting Diamond in charge of the investment bank and Frits Seegers – who left in 2009 – in charge of the retail bank where he instilled a "culture of fear".

Diamond, who quit in July 2012 just days after the bank was fined £290m for rigging Libor, had taken steps to develop one culture across the bank, says Salz, who is a director of the Scott Trust, owner of the Guardian. Rothschild, where Salz is also a director, received £1.5m in fees for his time.

Salz says: "Significant failings developed in the organisation as it grew. The absence of a common purpose or common set of values has led to conduct problems, reputational damage and a loss of public trust."

He admitted that some Barclays staff had refused to be interviewed for the review and one City analyst described the report as an "inappropriate use of trees", alluding to its focus on the bank's past instead of its future challenges.

Divisions previously run by Diamond's successor and current chief executive, Antony Jenkins, are also mentioned. Barclaycard had a culture of making money ahead of customer satisfaction. The retail bank focused on sales where loans sold with payment protection insurance generated two-and-a-half times more commission for staff than loans sold without the discredited insurance, which generated £400m in revenue a year for the bank.

Jenkins has announced a new set of values and a programme of reform, although a survey of 9,000 staff by Salz found that 70% had a high degrees of scepticism about the changes.

The review says the bank came across as "too clever by half" and that its battle to avoid a taxpayer bailout damaged its reputation. "Barclays was sometimes perceived as being within the letter of the law but not within its spirit," the review says, describing "an institutional cleverness".

The complicated Protium transaction it used to move loans off its balance sheet in 2009 had concerned regulators while Barclays could have communicated its 2008 fundraisings from Middle Eastern investors – now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office – more clearly, according to the report. During crucial stress tests to assess its financial health, the bank was "insufficiently sensitive" about the way it presented the results.

Sir David Walker, appointed chairman of Barclays in the wake of the Libor fine, said: "The report makes for uncomfortable reading in parts".

Student journalists chance to meet top newspaper editors

    

      

Student journalists chance meet  top 

newspaper editors 

staff correspondent(weastar times/g)::

Student journalists will get a chance to learn from industry experts next week, when they meet with editors of national papers to debate the future of journalism.

A panel of editors, including John Witherow, editor of The Times, Sarah Baxter, editor of the Sunday Times Magazine, and Ian Katz, deputy editor of the Guardian, will meet 140 aspiring journalists to discuss the big challenges facing the industry – from paywalls to social media.

Students will also debate the issues affecting journalism on their campuses, including the lack of funding available to university newspapers, student union censorship and apathy towards student politics.

Students from the top 40 campus papers will attend, but an extra 15 places are also available to people interested in hearing the discussion.

The talk will take place on Wednesday 17 April at the Frontline Club with the support of the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and Teach First.

Students interested in attending should contact organisers via email: contact@grapevinevents.co.uk.

one man arrested for Cashpoint robbering in hampshire

    

       CO E T

one man arrested for Cashpoint robbering 

in hampshire

crime reporter,hampshire(wp/sky)

A 26-year-old man was arrested after thieves used explosives to blow up a petrol station cashpoint.

Police were called to the Texaco garage in Weyhill, Hampshire at 4am on Sunday, where they found the stand-alone cash machine had been blown open and the money from inside stolen.

Officers were called to the scene after a neighbour had reported hearing a loud bang.

The man, from Bristol, was arrested on suspicion of theft and causing an explosion likely to endanger life or property.

CCTV footage of the explosion was released by Hampshire Police.

Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Murray said: "Although this was a relatively contained explosion and fortunately no one was injured, the unpredictable nature of this type of offence means we could easily have been dealing with serious injury or death.

"Our priority is to keep the public safe and by showing this CCTV footage, we hope it highlights how potentially dangerous an explosion of this type can be.

"We are aware of crimes of this nature occurring in mainland Europe which have had serious consequences and our advice to anyone using a cashpoint is to be extremely vigilant of any suspicious activity nearby.

"If you notice anything unusual, or see any wires or cables running from the machine, do not attempt to touch it and call the police immediately."

He said detectives were following up a number of enquiries and appealed for anyone with information that may assist the investigation to contact police.

Coldplay new album voted favourite album ever

    

       CO E T

Coldplay new album  voted favourite album ever

entertainment(music) reporter,London(weastar times/es):::

Coldplay's second album - A Rush Of Blood To The Head - has been named the favourite album of all time by radio listeners.

Coldplay triumphed in a poll of Radio 2 listeners which saw The Beatles fall behind to number eight.

The top album was revealed by DJ Jo Whiley following a countdown of the favourites throughout the day, starting in the early hours.

Coldplay's winning album - which features hits such as Clocks, In My Place and The Scientist - was released in 2002 and topped the charts, going on to sell more than 2.8 million copies in the THE ROYAL ENGLAND .

Runner-up Hopes And Fears by Keane, which like the Coldplay release is piano-heavy, was the most recent album in the top 10, dating from 2004. Duran Duran's Rio came third.

The poll was held to tie in with the recent Ebc season The Golden Age of the Album.

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles - often viewed as one of the greatest and most influential albums ever made - took eighth spot.

A number of other classics figured highly in the list. Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, released 40 years ago, was fourth and Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones was in sixth place.

Radio 2 head of music Jeff Smith said: "With albums ranging from Sinatra in the fifties to Emeli Sande in the last year, the range of eras and genres exhibited by the chart is typical of the breadth of Radio 2 and its distinctive music policy.

"Musicians such as Coldplay and Dido have struck a chord with listeners and are in good company in the Top 10 alongside legendary bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, whose appeal remains undiminished after all these years."

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