Albums of the Week: Cat Power, You Me At Six and KT Tunstall

Manager who stole £220k from school to buy fleet of taxis in Gambia jailed after six-year investigation

Pic:Cheques cashed: Kirsty Holmes, 45, was business manager at Battersea Park School 
Crime reporter(wp/es):

A school business manager has been jailed after draining her employer’s accounts of more than £220,000 to set up a taxi company in The Gambia with her boyfriend.

Kirsty Holmes, 45, and her partner Sunday Kalu, 47, siphoned off taxpayers’ money from Battersea Park School over a period of six months.

The pair enlisted friends to cash fraudulent cheques worth between £7,500 and £32,000 before the money was transferred to them. They moved to The Gambia and bought a property and a fleet of taxis and minibuses. 

For three years the couple, from Gillingham, Kent, ran a transport business in the West African nation, police said. 

At Kingston crown court, the couple were jailed for three and a half years after being found guilty of theft after a six-year investigation. The court heard Holmes worked at Battersea Park School from January 2009 until late 2011.

The school, in the borough of Wandsworth, was taken over and became a Harris Academy in 2014 after a damning Ofsted inspection found it was one of the worst in the country, plagued by dire results and truancy.

It has now turned around and was rated outstanding in an Ofsted report this year.

On her LinkedIn account, Holmes boasts of “29 years administrative experience” and she was “responsible for preparing annual budgets of up to £7 million and provided expertise in long-term financial management” for Battersea Park School. 

Between May and November 2011 — following the 2010/2011 financial audit — 15 cheques totalling £220,209 were paid out of the school’s account.

Holmes resigned in October 2011 and left the school the following month. In January 2012 a fresh audit unearthed the cheque payouts and found there were no corresponding invoices.

Bosses at the school, which was placed in special measures in June 2013, reported the theft to police in March 2012. Detectives established the cheques had been deposited into bank accounts around Gillingham and Chatham, which were found to belong to friends of Holmes and Kalu.

The money was later deposited into the pair’s bank accounts. All the accounts involved were emptied by the end of December 2011.

Holmes was arrested at Gatwick Airport in December 2014 after returning to Britain when her relationship broke down. Kalu was arrested the following year. Both denied knowledge of the theft and blamed each other.

Ds Donnett Oseni, the Met CID officer who led the investigation, said: “This was a very difficult case that took more than six years to bring to trial, with most witnesses reluctant to give evidence.

“Holmes abused a position of trust by stealing school funds — taxpayers’ money that was intended for the running of the school and the education of the students. The jail sentence handed down reflects the seriousness of the offence.

“I hope this case sends out the message that we will pursue prosecutions, even when years pass and the suspect thinks they have evaded authorities.”

Ten charged in fraud squad probe into Grenfell Tower fire alarms firm

Pic:Fire ripped through Grenfell Tower in June 2017 (wp)
Crime reporter(wp/es):

Ten people have been charged with offences following a four-year investigation by the Met’s complex fraud team into the contractor responsible for fire alarms at Grenfell Tower.

Housing services company Lakehouse was being probed after accusations it installed defective safety equipment in hundreds of London properties. 

An Evening Standard investigation last year revealed the inquiry relating to a £184 million government grant to renovate council properties and install alarms and emergency lighting.

Hackney council had received allegations of “fraud and overcharging” from whistleblowers.

A council investigation found some fire safety work was “defective, including incorrectly installed alarms and emergency lighting systems”. Lakehouse denied any wrongdoing.

The council wrote to 166 town hall chief executives warning them to check work done by Lakehouse and subcontractor Polyteck. 

Today police revealed 10 people have been charged. Andrew Langston, 40, and Lee David Wylie, 46 — among five people charged with bribery and theft — are understood to have been contract managers at Lakehouse.

The other three are understood to have worked for a variety of contractors on behalf of Lakehouse. 

Langston and Wylie’s partners Josephine Ashley-Russell, 37, and Sarah Kipping, 46, were charged with money laundering, as was Leslie Ratty, 67. Costantinos Polycarpou, 40, Polyteck’s managing director, and his father, Yiannakis, 63, the company chairman, were charged with bribery. 

A Met spokesman said: “In 2014 the Borough of Hackney referred an allegation of fraud to the Met. A total of 10 people have now been charged.” 

The allegedly defective works were signed off by staff at Hackney Homes, the arms-length management organisation set up by the council in 2006 in order to receive its allocation from the Government’s £1.6 billion Decent Homes programme, which aimed to help councils raise the standards of housing stock. 

Sources said the allegations date back to the inception of the scheme’s 2011 funding strategy. A spokeswoman for Hackney council said: “We are pleased that after a long period of investigation, this matter is finally being progressed.”

A Lakehouse spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing criminal investigation.” Polyteck has been approached for comment.

Cars set to be banned from half of roads in London's Square Mile and speed limits slashed to 15mph

Staff reporter(wp/es):

Vehicles would be banned from about half of the Square Mile’s roads under radical plans announced today to improve safety and cut congestion.

The proposals from the City of London Corporation — intended to usher in a “world-class” street scene in the financial district — could see speed limits slashed to 15mph.

“Pedestrian priority” zones would ban cars, vans, taxis and buses from using some routes, apart from for access. At least half of the roads in the Square Mile are earmarked for pedestrian priority status, including parts of Threadneedle Street near the Bank of England, and roads around Mansion House, Moorgate and Liverpool Street stations. Bicycles would be expected to give way to pedestrians in these zones.

The plans, laid out in the Corporation’s first long-term transport strategy, cover 25 years but some elements could come in next year. 

Chris Hayward, chairman of the planning and transportation committee, said the “radical” proposals are aimed at “future-proofing the Square Mile”. He added: “This is an ambitious piece of work, but the City of London is a unique district. With over 480,000 workers  commuting into the Square Mile on a day-to-day basis, these are some of the busiest streets in London and we need to be open for business.”

The Corporation — the local authority for the area — also called on Transport for London to rethink the Congestion Charge, introduced in 2003, which it says is outdated.

The report outlining the plans said a “road user charge” could be varied according to demand and vehicle type — opening the door to higher charges for more polluting vehicles.

The draft proposals, which were being presented to elected members today, also call for a “core cycling network” including two-metre wide protected cycle lanes on busy routes.

Simon Munk, of the London Cycling Campaign, said: “We’re very excited by the plans, which stand in stark contrast to some of their city neighbours. 

“It is a complex issue but it’s about designing the right spaces for the right mix of people, so we don’t end up with lots of pedestrian priority where there needs to be space for cyclists. The streets must be designed to encourage people to move and interact calmly.”

Last year, the Corporation banned all traffic except buses and bicycles from Bank junction between 7am and 7pm on weekdays, after the death of City worker Ying Tao, who was hit by a lorry as she cycled to work in June 2015.

The Planning and Transportation Committee will make a decision on the proposals on October 30. 

Separate plans to pedestrianise streets in the eastern City were published in the summer.

Brexit uncertainty is "starting to bite" for UK firms - surveys

Staff reporter(wp/reuters):
Britain’s businesses are suffering from Brexit-related uncertainty as exports slow, recruitment difficulties mount and investment plans are scaled back, two surveys showed on Monday.

The British Chambers of Commerce said its survey of 5,600 companies, the largest of its kind in Britain, showed services firms were having the most trouble finding staff since the survey began in 1989, and growth in factory exports was the slowest since late 2016.

“These figures reinforce what we are hearing from businesses up and down the country — the uncertainty over Brexit, and the lack of bold moves to boost business at home, are starting to bite,” BCC director general Adam Marshall said.

Last week Prime Minister Theresa May told her Conservative Party to back her plan to leave the European Union as Britain entered “the toughest part of the negotiations”.

Diplomatic sources told Reuters on Friday the EU’s Brexit negotiators see a divorce deal as “very close”.

Britain’s economy has lagged behind the growth rate of many other rich countries for much of the period since the 2016 Brexit vote.

The BCC’s quarterly survey showed that the percentage of services businesses looking to recruit more staff over the next three months fell to 47 percent from 60 percent, the lowest since the first quarter of 1993. Seventy-two percent of firms reported recruitment difficulties, the highest on record.

For manufacturers, growth in both export sales and new export orders was the slowest since the end of 2016.

“Weaker sterling is no longer providing a boon to many of our exporters, while consumer spending is failing to boost the domestic market,” Marshall said.

Separately on Monday, accountancy firm Deloitte said its survey of chief financial officers pointed to slower business spending and hiring after Brexit.

Only 13 percent of CFOs were more optimistic about the prospects for their company than they were three months ago, down from 24 percent in July, Deloitte said.

Seventy-nine percent said they expected the long-term business environment to be worse as a result of leaving the EU, the highest share since the 2016 Brexit vote.

David Sproul, chief executive of Deloitte North West Europe, said confidence could recover if Britain secured a Brexit deal.

“A deal with a sensible transition period would remove the uncertainty and should deliver a real boost to business spirits,” he said.

Economists polled by Reuters expect official data due on Wednesday to show solid economic growth of 0.6 percent for the three months to August, though the year-on-year performance is predicted to be less impressive at 1.5 percent.

Much of the growth in the economy this year has been driven by stronger-than-expected spending by consumers, despite a continued squeeze on their spending power by inflation running higher than wage growth.

Last month the BCC predicted growth for 2018 would slow to 1.1 percent, its weakest since the end of the 2008-09 recession.

Human body parts among tonnes of NHS clinical waste stockpiled by disposal firm

Health reporter(wp/es):

A criminal investigation has been launched after tonnes of waste from NHS hospitals, including body parts, was allowed to pile up by a disposal company.

Healthcare Environment Services Ltd has been found to be in breach of its permits at five sites in England which deal with clinical waste and a criminal investigation has been launched, the Environment Agency said.

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) reported that amputated limbs and pharmaceutical waste were among the matter which had been allowed to mount up.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said there is "absolutely no risk" to public health.

It is believed the waste was stored securely, but was not being processed and disposed of within the correct regulatory timeframes.

Healthcare Environment Services said the UK had experienced "reduced incineration capacity" over the last year, which it had repeatedly highlighted to authorities.

An Environment Agency spokeswoman said: "The Environment Agency has found Health Environmental Services to be in breach of its environmental permits at five sites which deal with clinical waste.

"We are taking enforcement action against the operator, which includes clearance of the excess waste, and have launched a criminal investigation.

"We are supporting the Government and the NHS to ensure there is no disruption to public services and for alternative plans to be put in place for hospitals affected to dispose of their waste safely."

A Government spokesman said: "We are monitoring the situation closely and have made sure that public services - including NHS Trusts - have contingency plans in place. There is absolutely no risk to the health of patients or the wider public.

"Our priority is to prevent disruption to the NHS and other vital public services and work is under way to ensure organisations can continue to dispose of their waste safely and efficiently."

A spokesman for Healthcare Environmental Services said: "Healthcare Environmental has highlighted the reduction in the UK's high-temperature incineration capacity for the last few years.

"This is down to the ageing infrastructure, prolonged breakdowns and the reliance on zero waste to landfill policies, taking up the limited high-temperature incineration capacity in the market.

"Over the last year, this reduced incineration capacity has been evident across all of the industry and has affected all companies."

It added that it had "consistently highlighted" the issue to environmental regulators, and there has been no disruption to services to customers.

Unilever U-turn over plan to move HQ piles pressure on bosses

Pic:Consumer goods firm Unilever has abandoned plans to move its legal headquarters from London to Rotterdam ( PA )
Business correspondent(wp/es):

The future of Unilever’s board was in doubt on Friday after a shareholder rebellion forced the consumer goods giant into a “humiliating” climbdown from plans to move its HQ to the Netherlands.

The decision to abandon shifting its legal head office to Rotterdam and switching from two classes of shares to one comes six months after it unveiled the plans and just weeks before investors in Unilever’s Dutch and UK entities were due to vote on them.

The Marmite and Dove soapmaker, led by chairman Marijn Dekkers and chief executive Paul Polman who is eyeing retirement, is understood to have seen the extent of opposition and realised its plans could be rejected.

“This is somewhat humiliating — at least humbling — for Polman, and may accelerate his retirement,” said Investec analyst Eddy Hargreaves.

Shareholders have been coming out almost daily over the past few weeks to oppose the ideas, concerned that exiting the FTSE 100 will mean the stock is less likely to be included in UK managers’ portfolios.

Attacks on Unilever are a long way from the City praise heaped on the consumer goods company after it last year fought off a £115 billion takeover from US foods behemoth Kraft Heinz.

It had wanted to move to the Netherlands, where Dutch laws typically favour the defender in takeover attempts, to simplify its corporate structure.

Unilever has previously said it “engaged extensively” with shareholders and “we believe the vast majority are fully supportive of the board’s proposals”. The board today said it will consider its “next steps”.

Corporate brokers UBS and Deutsche Bank, tasked with keeping Unilever up to speed on shareholder thinking, advised Unilever on the relocation plan. Both declined to comment.

Shareholders with around 11% of the UK-listed shares had opposed the plan, and many investors welcomed today’s U-turn.

Iain Richards from Columbia Threadneedle said: “Better approaches are possible and the problems for shareholders were foreseeable.” Aviva Investors’ Mirza Baig said it was “in the best interests” of its UK shareholders and UK plc. M&G Investment said it proved shareholder engagement paid off.  

The controversy could trigger a widespread review, said Rachel Reeves, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee. “Whatever the arguments made for incorporating into the Netherlands, there was a real suspicion that, in the wake of the hostile bid from Kraft Heinz, part of the motive for the move was that UK rules too easily allow takeovers,” she said. 

“As a committee, we will want to consider looking at the Government’s White Paper on foreign takeovers to see whether the new regime should include additional safeguards.”

UBS analysts said: “We believe the market’s focus will now shift to the next steps, corporate governance improvements under the current structure and the operational performance.”