Investigating the alleged airliner terrorist bomb plot is costing Scotland Yard an extra £1 million a week, and police are asking the Government for financial help.
The anti-terrorist branch arrested 24 people during raids last month which led to 17 people facing charges. Police said yesterday that so far the case had cost £8.5 million, including £5.2 million for overtime and £3.3 million in support costs including travel, accommodation and help from other forces. The total does not include regular wages. Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, told the Metropolitan Police Authority that his force was operating on a very tight budget and would have to approach the Home Office for extra funds.
Crowded classes
More than half a million primary school children are taught in classes of more than 30 pupils, suggests data from the Department of Education. The survey, conducted in January, indicates that 15 per cent of pupils are taught in classes of 31 or more.
No protest charge
No one will be prosecuted for the demonstration outside Westminster Cathedral two weeks ago after the Pope’s remarks about Islam. Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said an inquiry had found no evidence of any offence being committed.
Home-loving 20s
Parents may be disappointed to discover that most young people intend to stay at home until they are at least 24 years old. Rising living costs have left many twenty-somethings unable to afford to move out, with Londoners worst off, according to a survey.
Wessex honoured
The Countess of Wessex has been appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The Countess fell seriously ill herself in 2001 when she suffered a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy.
Holy water poison
Muslims observing Ramadan are being told not to drink holy Zam Zam water after high levels of arsenic were found in bottles on sale in Britain. The alert from the Food Standards Agency came after tests on fake bottles in Leicester.
Sauce banned
Calderdale Council has removed tomato sauce from about 50 Halifax primary schools to comply with government guidelines on healthy eating. It said that several condiments had been taken off the menu because of high salt content.
Search matches drug to disease
A computer system likened to a “Google search” for medical research is promising to transform the prospect of new therapies, by matching existing drugs to diseases they were never designed to treat. The Human Connectivity Map will allow scientists to screen thousands of compounds and molecules for their potential against a wide range of diseases, as well as predicting how new drugs will work in human cells.
Brixton shooting
A London teenager was last night in a critical condition after being shot in the chest as he and a friend, both thought to be 17, queued at a fast-food outlet, Scotland Yard said. The friend was in a stable condition after being shot in the arm. The gunman fled from the branch of McDonald’s in Brixton.
Holiday drowning
A grandfather from Windsor drowned in front of his family while celebrating his ruby wedding anniversary in Italy. Derek Wood, a retired finance director, who raised £10,000 for Thames Valley HospiceCare by walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats, was swept out to sea off the northwest coast of Sardinia.
Agents reined in
Consumers are to receive greater protection from rogue estate agents. A new code of practice, to be introduced on October 1, will oblige agents to write to buyers who make an offer confirming that it has been passed to the seller. They will also have to tell potential buyers if an offer has already been made on a property.
Gay rally charges
A Christian group leader who was arrested for distributing leaflets condemning homosexuality at a gay rally has had all charges dropped. Stephen Green, 54, of Christian Voice, was accused of using threatening behaviour or insulting words at the rally in Cardiff. The CPS said that it had insufficient evidence.
Unchecked police
Up to a dozen auxiliary police have been allowed to go on the beat before their security checks have been completed, Scotland Yard said. Ninety of the recruits in the intakes since April passed the first three checks but not the final one and Scotland Yard decided to let them start training under “extra supervision”.
Wheels come off
Sarah Lyle pedalled her modified mountain bicycle 5,000 miles (8,047km) from the Dead Sea to Everest for charity. But as soon as she went back to work in Cambridge, it was stolen. Ms Shaw, 24, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, part of the Everestmax team which raised more than £20,000, said: “I’m devastated.”
British trio deny Cyprus killing
Three British men yesterday denied the manslaughter of a teenage motorcyclist in Cyprus. Julian Harrington, 39, Michael Binnington, 21, and Luke Atkinson, 22, all from Essex, are accused of causing the death of Christos Papiris, aged 17. The youth died of internal injuries after a collision with the men’s hire car between Ayia Napa and Protaras in the early hours of August 18.
Pilot in the dock
A pilot pleaded not guilty yesterday at Minshull Street Magistrates Court in Manchester to being drunk as he prepared to fly a passenger jet to Chicago. James Yates, 46, was arrested in February, 45 minutes before his American Airlines flight, carrying 209 passengers, was due to fly from Manchester.
Winners work on
A group of Tesco workers who won £7.5 million on the Lotto were back at their tills yesterday. The syndicate of nine staff and one former employee at the store in Sudbury, Suffolk, all of them women, will each receive £750,000 after scooping the prize on the Superdraw jackpot last Saturday.
Forecast: Saharan
Thousands will die as temperatures in Britain reach 46C, as hot as the Sahara, by the end of the century, the Met Office has predicted. Roads would melt and railways buckle, Geoff Jenkins said, adding that the prediction, based on 300 years of data, was not even “the worst-case scenario”.
Rap star not guilty
Megaman, the rap star, was yesterday cleared at the Old Bailey of murdering a man in a revenge attack. Dwayne Vincent, of West London, was acquitted of encouraging his former friend, Carl Morgan, to shoot Colin Scarlett, who had earlier “dissed” and humiliated Morgan by beating him up.
Teenage triumph
Thirty teenage mothers and fathers in Leicester have been praised by the city council for taking their GCSEs while having a baby to look after. Most were aged 15 or 16 and many achieved good grades. A council spokesman said: “This is not so much about exam grades, it’s about recognising their commitment.”
Scam canned
A trader was fined £1,000 for selling a spray to prevent speed cameras reading numberplates — because it didn’t work. Wesley Morby, 28, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, was convicted by Hyndburn magistrates under the Trade Descriptions Act after an investigation by trading standards officers and police.
