‘Dead’ canoeist admits fraud offences
John Darwin, 57, the man who faked his death in a kayak accident, was facing a
lengthy prison sentence last night after he admitted a £260,000 fraud
(Andrew Norfolk writes).
The former prison officer’s wife, Anne, standing beside her husband in the
dock, denied every charge. She will stand trial in July.
Darwin pleaded guilty to seven charges of obtaining money by deception and
also admitted dishonestly obtaining a passport in the name of John Jones. He
denied a further nine money-laundering charges, which will be allowed to lie
on file. Mrs Darwin, 55, pleaded not guilty to 15 counts of fraud and money
laundering.
Darwin was declared dead at an inquest in Hartlepool in April 2002, 13 months
after his empty kayak was found at sea. This triggered a series of life
insurance, mortgage and pension payments to Mrs Darwin.
The couple, from Seaton Carew, are believed to have accrued debts from
property dealing. Darwin was remanded in custody to be sentenced after his
wife’s trial, which will open at Teesside Crown Court on July 14.
Kent keeps its own counsel on pay
A council is refusing to name 16 officials who earn more than £100,000 because
it fears that they will be abused by the public.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance, which wants public servants who earn more than
£50,000 a year to be identified, is trying to use the Freedom of Information
Act to force Kent County Council to name the staff.
The council said that its chief executive Peter Gilroy received “unwarranted
personal comments” last year after it emerged that his salary of £229,999
made him England’s highest-paid local authority boss. Alex King, deputy
leader of the Conservative-led authority, said that the council had “learnt
from the experience”.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance said that several council chiefs earned more than
Prime Minister Gordon Brown — who earns £188,849 — and taxpayers had a right
to know who got what and why. The organisation has criticised Suffolk County
Council for paying its new chief executive, Andrea Hill, a salary of
£220,000 — £70,000 more than her predecessor.
EU leaders clash over emission targets
European Union leaders clashed last night over how to reduce greenhouse gases
a year after making climate change their top priority (David Charter and
Greg Hurst write).
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, wanted concessions for German carmakers
and heavy industry. Gordon Brown repeated a proposal for reduced VAT rates
on ecofriendly appliances, but it failed to gain widespread support at the
spring Council meeting in Brussels.
José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, said the leaders’
credibility was at risk if they could not meet agreed targets, which
included cutting CO2 emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.
GP pensions ruling
The Health Department acted unlawfully in retrospectively capping the rise in
GPs’ pensions allowed by their new contract, the High Court ruled. The
scheme includes a provision for past contributions to be uprated to current
values, and in 2006 the department said that the normal formula was
unsustainable.
Regulator joins row
The statistics regulator has written to the Department for Children, Schools
and Families about how the publication of secondary school figures this week
was handled. Ed Balls, the Children’s Minister, made a statement, based on
unverified research, that some schools were breaking the admissions code.
Life for ‘execution’
A “wannabe gangster” was jailed for life yesterday for shooting dead a
pregnant young woman on her doorstep. Thomas Hughes, 41, shot Krystal Hart,
22, of Battersea, South London, in the head. At the Old Bailey Judge Anthony
Morris told him: “This was a ruthless execution by you and a truly evil
act.”
Killer’s family jailed
The mother and sisters of a man who killed his wife have been jailed for
ignoring his treatment of her. Phullan Bibi, 52, got three years at Leeds
Crown Court and her daughters Uzma Khan, 23, and Nazia Naureen, 28, were
jailed for two years each for allowing the murder of Sabia Rani, 19, by
Shazad Khan.
Police criticised in surgeon drug case
A judge has ordered an urgent review of police procedures after prosecutors
were forced to drop a drug case against a leading surgeon.
Andrew Baker, a former consultant at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, was charged
with possessing cocaine and cannabis after the drugs were found in a washbag
outside his house in Derby. Judge John Wait said a series of “serious
deficiencies” in the conduct of the investigation led him to direct the jury
at Derby Crown Court to return a not guilty verdict.
Dr Baker said he was innocent of all charges and was considering legal action.
Bomb hoax charges
A postman has appeared in court charged with sending letters containing white
powder and planting a hoax bomb. Jefferson Azevedo, 45, from Langley Road,
Portsmouth, gave no indication of his plea at Westminster Magistrates’ Court
to 19 offences, including sending letters to the Attorney-General. The case
was adjourned until April 24. Mr Azevedo was given conditional bail.
Nurse wins payout
A former trainee nurse who had to give up her job after developing a
potentially fatal allergy to latex has won a six-figure compensation payout.
Tanya Dodd, 25, who worked at Scarborough General Hospital, was threatened
with disciplinary action if she was caught using latex-free gloves. Dave
Prentis, the general-secretary of Unison, said her life had been blighted by
the negligence of her employers.
Detective jailed
A high-ranking police officer who used his force’s credit card to buy items
for his own use was sentenced to three years in jail. Detective Chief
Inspector Peter Salkeld, 42, of Sussex Police was found guilty at Maidstone
Crown Court last month of 11 counts of theft, obtaining property by
deception and obtaining a money transfer by deception. An asset-confiscation
hearing will take place later.
Cash machine arrests
Nine men and four women were arrested in connection with a series of thefts
from cash machines. The thirteen, arrested in dawn raids across East London,
are alleged to be members of a criminal gang that took £2.2 million from
cash dispensers around England over a period of 18 months. Most of the raids
took place in Walthamstow. Those detained were aged from 22 to 48.
Swan-killing charges
Three men appeared in court charged with shooting dead 29 swans at a beauty
spot. Brothers Marcus and Darren Walker and their friend Stephen Barrett,
all from Chesham, Buckinghamshire, denied killing the birds between October
5 and 9 last year at a lake in Radwell, Bedfordshire. All three men were
bailed unconditionally to return to Bedford Magistrates’ Court on August 4.
