Reggie Kray’s former gay lover has been jailed for life for murder. Bradley Allardyce, 36, spent three years with the notorious gangster at Maidstone prison while serving a nine-year sentence for armed robbery.
Allardyce attacked his victim, David Fairburn, with two others after he became incensed during a love feud involving Allardyce’s girlfriend’s sister, the Old Bailey was told. Mr Fairburn was stabbed at least twice.
£2.8m Canaletto
A Canaletto masterpiece that has been in England since it was painted in about 1740 fetched £2.8 million at Christie’s in New York. The painting of the Bacino di San Marco, in Venice — one of four acquired directly from the Venetian artist by Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton, for a total of £100 — was bought by a private collector.
Wheel thief jailed
A professional thief who stole alloy wheels worth tens of thousands of pounds from luxury cars has been jailed for four years. Dale Ward, 31, stripped Ferraris, Mercedes and BMWs in Kensington and Chelsea, London, to feed his drug habit, Blackfriars Crown Court heard. Police believe he may have stolen the wheels to order, for up to £4,000 a set.
TV comedian fined £3,500
The Scots television comedian Ford Kiernan was fined £3,500 for attacking a taxi driver in a road rage incident.
The comedian, who stars in BBC Scotland’s Chewin The Fat, punched William Kerr on the head and dragged him from his vehicle. The incident took place in a supermarket car park in Glasgow in October last year.
Keirnan, 42, had pleaded guilty to two assault charges at Glasgow Sheriff Court last week.
Officer guilty of killing motorist
A policeman is facing 14 years in jail for killing a motorist who had stopped to help out at a motorway crash. PC Matthew Monaghan, 22, ran over Daniel Gammell, of Basildon, Essex, 29, on the M62 near Eccles, Manchester, at 2am last January.
Monaghan, who was driving home, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving by Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester. He will be sentenced next month.
Victim named
A woman who was raped, stabbed and set on fire has been named by police in Sussex. Jennifer Kiely, 35, who had been sleeping rough in Eastbourne, was found dead in a beach shelter on Saturday. Police said a 26-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder and would remain in custody for questioning.
Scared to death
A Muslim scared of “unclean” dogs plunged 80ft to his death from a cliff after one ran up to him, an inquest heard. Asif Bharucha, 17, from Blackburn, Lancashire, panicked and ran away from the black labrador towards the edge of the cliff near Lizard Point, Cornwall, and lost his balance. Verdict: accidental death.
Doctor remanded
A doctor appeared in court accused of murdering a woman at his home. Abdullah Eltom, 52, was held after the body of a 48-year-old woman was found at his home in Thornton, Merseyside. He was remanded in custody until Tuesday. A post-mortem examination revealed that the woman died of asphyxiation.
Abuse inquiry
A month-long investigation is being made by two barristers into sexual abuse at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, after a former history teacher was jailed for indecent assaults in the 1980s. The investigation is on behalf of Buckinghamshire County Council.
Nelson letter sale
A letter written by Lord Nelson with his left hand, after he lost the sight of an eye and an arm at the Battle of the Nile, is expected to fetch up to £4,500 at an auction of Nelson memorabilia in Edinburgh next week. It was found with two others in a wardrobe in a flat in the city last year.
Girl's arson attack
Two teenage girls were given two years’ detention for mounting an arson attack on the home of three Iraqi asylum-seekers after tying the front door shut. Cardiff Crown Court was told that the girls, who were 16 at the time, had drunk a bottle of vodka and lager and cider. They cannot be named for legal reasons.
Overdose death after relocation
A month after fulfilling her life-long dream of relocating to “a place in the sun”, Samantha Knight died of a drug overdose, an inquest was told. The 34-year-old, from Swindon, Wiltshire, sold her house last year and moved to Cyprus. Miss Knight, who suffered from depression, was found last June on her bed surrounded by pill containers. David masters, the Wiltshire coroner, recorded an open verdict.
New home office
The new Home Office headquarters has named its buildings after Mary Seacole, the pioneering black nurse in the Crimean War; Robert Peel, who founded the Metropolitan Police in 1829; and Elizabeth Fry, the 19th-century prison reformer. The £311 million Westminster blocks will open next week.
Accidental death
A man who was pretending to electrocute himself at a railway station on October 23 touched a live rail and burst into flames, an inquest heard. Julian Brooker, 23, was a member of Aped bi Sapien, a Brighton rock group. Veronica Hamilton-Deeley, the East Sussex Coroner, recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Asbestos claim
James Maguire, a former ship builder from Belfast whose wife Teresa, 67, died after being exposed to asbestos while washing his work clothes, was stripped of £82,000 in compensation. The Court of Appeal ruled that Harland and Wolff was not liable for Mrs Maguire catching mesothelioma.
Half-baked idea
A man has opened a museum dedicated to the baked bean in his two-bedroom council flat in Port Talbot, South Wales. Barry Kirk, 44, who officially changed his name to Captain Beany, will show tins and anything bean-shaped from around the world. Heinz declined to donate cans. “I had to buy my own,” he said.
Last-ditch rescue
A 21-year-old woman whose car skidded off an icy road into a ditch and began filling with water was rescued after making a frantic call to her mother. The woman was driving along Eastbridge Road, in Dymchurch, Kent. She was taken to hospital suffering from shock after firefighters pulled her from her car.
Police chiefs
Two chief constables are joining the command at Scotland Yard as Sir Ian Blair becomes the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Paul Stephenson, 51, Chief Constable of Lancashire, is to become Sir Ian’s No 2. Andy Hayman, Chief Constable of Norfolk, will be in charge of counter-terrorist operations.
Bunker bargain
A disused nuclear bunker dating back to the height of the Cold War is for sale for £10,000. The shelter, which measures 15ft by 7ft 4in, is in the corner of a field between Great Dunmow and Stebbing in Essex. Built by the Ministry of Defence in the late 1950s, it was designed to withstand a nuclear blast on London and intended to act as a monitoring post in the event of an attack. The one-roomed building has no gas or electricity, but has a water pump and chemical lavatory. The agent says that it “needs a bit of a makeover, but would be ideal to store wine”.
Bodleian salts away its books
The Bodleian Library is to bury some of its valuable books beneath the Cheshire countryside. The Oxford University library will move books into a facility known as DeepStore in a salt mine 500ft underground to make room for more frequently consulted items in its collection until a new depository is built.
Chris Woods, of Oxford’s library services, said: “The Bodleian is one of the UK’s legal deposit libraries. We receive more than 5,000 new items every week. We chose DeepStore because they offered the best environment in which to store material.”
Boy, 11, hanged
An 11-year-old boy hanged himself weeks after seeing a museum model of Dick Turpin being executed, an inquest in Sheffield was told. Adam Mason-Stubbs, who took medication for hyperactivity, had been sent to his bedroom in Darnfield, South Yorkshire, to calm down. Verdict: accidental death.
Midwives needed
An extra 10,000 midwives are urgently needed to reduce staff shortages and heavy workloads across the country, an annual staffing survey showed. The Royal College of Midwives said that increased recruitment and support for midwifery were required to fill jobs that have been empty for a long time.
Last pit in north
One of the last remaining coal mines, and the last pit in the North East, is to close with the loss of 340 jobs after water penetrated the face and pumping failed. Ellington colliery in Northumberland, which lost £11 million last year, was sunk in 1910. Staff will be made redundant, with losses of around £10 million.
Fish prize landed
A couple who bought their chip shop less than two years ago were named Britain’s best fish fryers. Greg and Caroline Howard of Our Plaice in West Hagley, north Worcestershire, won the contest run by the Sea Fish Industry Authority and Frozen at Sea Fillets Association, which represents trawler owners.
Kelly 'victim of discrimination', says Opus Dei
OPUS DEI defended Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Education, yesterday over her ties to the secretive Catholic organisation, saying that she was the victim of discrimination (Richard Owen writes).
Giuseppe Corigliano, a spokesman for the Opus Dei Prelature in Rome, said: “Who nowadays would dare say that a Jew should not be a government minister if he is a practising Jew?” He told Corriere della Sera it was “very strange that while people are demanding every freedom there should be any discussion over the most fundamental liberty, freedom of religion”.
The Italian press reported this week that Ms Kelly’s links with Opus Dei were causing Tony Blair “embarrassment”. Asked about “British concerns” that Ms Kelly might be a “conduit for instructions from Rome”, Monsignor Corgliano said Opus Dei should help people to hold a personal relationship with God without entering into anyone’s professional or political choices”.
MPs reject plan to save mileage
Backbench MPs threw out an attempt to save their generous car mileage allowances by rejecting a plan to phase in its reduction and keep higher reimbursements for their first 20,000 miles each year.
Their present rate of 57.7p per mile is due to be cut from April to one in line with Inland Revenue rates. After a backlash from some MPs, a cross-party motion proposed cutting the rate in stages over five years, but MPs rejected this by 249 to 111.
Tory candidate to fight another day
A Conservative Party parliamentary candidate has escaped deselection after a ballot of local party members.
Anne Jobson’s future as the candidate for Chatham and Aylesford in Kent was discussed at a meeting of the constituency’s Tory party association yesterday.
The debate about Ms Jobson, a leading barrister, and the recent dismissal of two other women prospective MPs has led to allegations of sexism in the party.
