22:22
Marbella Times
14-year-old boy was arrested trying to snatch a Russian tourist's handbag in Pattaya later the handbag was stolen by a motorbike man who was arrested for theft and possession of marijuana.
Pattaya, August 3, 2011 [PDN]; Pol.Lt.Col. Panlop Ringrod, Pattaya police was informed of a bag-snatch at Lam Balihai. The suspect was caught by the victims and the onlookers.
At the scene, the police found the victims; Mr Yuri Safonov, age 33, Russian and his girlfriend, Ms. Galina Irgizkina, age 29, and witnesses who caught the suspect “Pol” age 14.
Mr Yuri Safonov reported to the police, that as he and his girlfriend were going back to the hotel, the two suspects rode their motorbike close to them and snatched his girlfriend’s handbag. He ran after them and grabed the suspect’s shirt and one of suspects fell from the motorbike with the handbag. The other suspect escaped to South Pattaya where the volunteer police was waiting to arrest him. The suspect tried to escape again and hit two volunteer police injuring them. Later the suspect was arrested along with the Honda Wave motorbike, registration Ngor-Kor-Kor 351 Chonburi.
The 14- year-old suspects confessed that they were from Rayong and had skipped school and went to visit their friend in Pattaya, borrowed his bike in order to snatch bags from tourists which they did twice before being arrested.
During the investigation, the victims informed the police that their handbag had disappeared. The suspect told the police that the handbag fell during the snatch. Later, they were informed by the onlookers that the handbag was taken by a motorbike man.
The police searched and found the motorbike man, Mr Pradu Konklong, age 37. He denied the accusation at first. The police searched his body and found a pack of marihauna. After being investigated by the police, he confessed that he took the handbag from at the incident and went to hide it at the motorbike taxi stand. The police went to the motorbike taxi stand and found the victim’s handbag containing 1,720 THB, a Sony mobile phone, a Sumsung digital camera, a hotel key card and cosmetics.
Both 14 years old suspects were detained and charged of stealing and Mr Pradu was charged of Marijuana posession and theft.
In addition, during 18:00-24:00 hrs on the same day there were five motorbike to bag-snatch cases in Pattaya. Only one case led to the arrest of the suspects. The police assumes that the suspects were teens from Pattaya and nearby provinces. The police will set up special team to prevent further bag-snatches.
Friday, 5 August 2011
14-year-old boy was arrested trying to snatch a Russian tourist's handbag in Pattaya
Pattaya Municipalily called for the jet ski operators to register their jet ski businesses
Pattaya Municipalily called for the jet ski operators to register their jet ski businesses, to have insurances and stop extorting money from tourists. The jet ski operators claimed that they could not afford the insurance fee.
Pattaya, August 3, 2011, [PDN]; Pattaya Municipal Administration, Mr Chaowalit Seanguthai, Banglamung Deputy Chief Officer, Mr Ronnakij Ekasing, Pattaya Deputy Mayor, Mr. Soontorn Rattanavaraha, Pattaya District Chief, Pattaya Police and a various jet ski operators met to solve Pattaya’s jet ski problem.
Mr Soontorn Rattanavaraha, Pattaya District Chief said that the news of jet ski operators extorting money from tourists has affected the image of Pattaya. Therefore, the following recommendations were discussed; the jet ski operators must be registered and the data checked by the police annually. The area for permitted jet ski usage would be set up and the operators must have their jet skis insured.
Two types of insurance; a long term insurance and an hourly insurance. The insurance would cover the jet ski, property and life. Implementation of a jet ski tax insurance; a coupon which the operator could buy at Pattaya municipality. The coupon would be divided into three parts; jet ski rental, insurance and tax.
Mr. Chaowalit Seanguthai, Banglamung Deputy Chief Officer and his team had investigated the jet ski problem and found that tourists were still exploited by the jet ski operators. When a jet ski was damaged the operator would collect a lot more money than the actual cost for repair.
As for the jet ski operators, they disagreed with the Pattaya Municipality’s recommendation because the cost of insurance was high compared to their revenue. They admitted that there were some jet ski operators who extorted money from the tourists. The jet ski operators they wanted the municipality to monitor all operators to prevent further incidents.The police should prosecute the unlawful operators and their jet ski operation permits should be cancelled. As for the insurance, an independent insurance company should to assess a fair price of insurance.
In addition, August 9-10 2011, (PDN) The jet ski operators in Pattaya should have their jet skis and their drivers registered with the Pattaya municipality as soon as possible.The registration would allow the officers to know the jet ski owner/operator in case of a problem or an accident. If the operators will not register they will be not be allowed to rent their jet skis to tourists.
Thai police have arrested two Swedish nationals as prime suspects in the murder of a compatriot earlier this week on Phuket Island
Thai police have arrested two Swedish nationals as prime suspects in the murder of a compatriot earlier this week on Phuket Island, police said Thursday.
Phuket police arrested Tommy Viktor Soderlund, 26, and Johan Sebastian Ljung, 26, on Tuesday, a day after the death of Russian-born Swede Maksim Schantz, 25.
'The two Swedes have confessed to the murder of Schantz and if found guilty could face a maximum sentence of life in prison,' said Police Colonel Komol Wattraporn, Phuket's deputy chief of police.
According to their testimony, Soderlund and Ljung traced Schantz to Phuket, 600 kilometres south-west of Bangkok, via his Facebook page and followed him to the island on a mission of revenge.
They said they had previously worked with Schantz running an internet scam in Pattaya, a Thai beach resort situated 100 kilometres east of Bangkok, involving selling shoddy products via their website.
Schantz had allegedly informed Pattaya police of the swindle, leading to the arrest of Soderlund on charges of working in Thailand without the proper permits.
After Soderlund was released from Pattaya prison, the two Swedes tracked Schantz down to Phuket three weeks ago, and equipped with a knife, gun and rope, attacked him Monday night with the intent of taking him back to his rented house.
When Schantz put up a fight, Ljung allegedly stabbed him in the neck, killing him.
The two Swedes fled the scene but were caught the next day at the Surin Sweet Hotel on Surin beach.
According to their pasports, Soderlund and Ljung had been living in Thailand on tourist visas for about three years, Komol said in a telephone inetyrview with the German
Saturday, 2 July 2011
A revolver belonging to notorious Chicago gangster Al 'Scarface' Capone has sold for £67,250 at auction.
The six-shot, double action weapon was made in May 1929, just months after the iconic American mobster ordered the murder of seven of his rivals in the infamous St Valentine's Day Massacre.
The nickel-plated Colt .38, which was sold at Christie's auction house in London by a private collector, came with a letter signed by Capone's sister-in-law confirming its authenticity.
A piece of history:The nickel-plated, six-shoot weapon belonging to infamous mobster Capone, left, sold for £76,250
Born in New York, Capone dominated the Chicago underworld during prohibition until his 1931 arrest for tax evasion.
He was once king of the Chicago rackets and is thought to have personally killed many rivals and ordered the deaths of others.
Christie's spokesman Leonie Ashfield said earlier this month when the aution was revealed: 'We've had film memorabilia but nothing related to the actual Al Capone that's coming up on my computer in the last 10 years.'
Although it is not known if the weapon was used by Capone in any of his numerous killings, it is the first item of his to be auctioned by Christie's in over a decade.
Public enemy: Al Capone's mugshot, complete with three-piece, shirt and tie
Capone was a Prohibition-era gangster who ruled a multi-million dollar empire of illegal booze, gambling and prostitution in the 1920s.
After his arrest in 1931 for tax evasion, Capone served seven years and six months in federal prison, which included a stay at Alcatraz.
He was paroled in November 1939 but by that time, he reportedly suffered badly from paresis brought on by syphilis.
He went into seclusion at an estate near Miami, Florida, where he died of a stroke and pneumonia in January 1947.
Since Capone's death, many of his belongings have made their way into auction houses.
A bullet-proof 1928 Cadillac that Capone owned sold at auction for $37,000 (£23,000) in 1971.
According to the November 21, 1971, issue of the Daytona Beach Morning Journal, the winning bid was roughly $8,000 more than the price paid for President John F. Kennedy's 1963 Lincoln Continental sedan.
In 1982, a rare signed photo of Capone sold at auction for $4,250 (£2,600).
The previous high price for a 20th century photograph at that time was a signed picture of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon, which went for $3,200 (£1,985).
Gangsters are a hit with Chicago tourists
When Louise Leach planned her vacation, she had three priorities for her visit here: "architecture, pizza and gangsters."
Leach, 63, a retiree from Manchester, England, took an architecture boat tour and by Day Three of her stay had eaten at two pizzerias. She came to the Biograph Theater, where John Dillinger was fatally shot in 1934, for a taste of the gangster life.
"Next we're going to the site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, even though I know it's not there anymore," Leach says. "Someone told me the house where Al Capone once lived is still standing, so we'll go there as well. Do you know where I can find some former speakeasies?"
For Leach and her three traveling companions, Chicago's gangster past is part of its allure. "It was quite a dangerous place then, wasn't it?" muses Sally Wetherford, 61. "You see it in the movies all the time, so we simply have to sample it in person."
PHOTOS: Top shots of Chicago gangster tours
STORY: Bulger hopscotched U.S., gambled in Vegas
Las Vegas, St. Paul and Kansas City, Mo., have tours celebrating the often-violent history written by gangsters in the 1920s and '30s. New York has the Museum of the American Gangster. Chicago, though, may relish its links to gangsters more than any other American city.
Bus tours visit the secret bars where they sold alcohol during Prohibition and the places they died. At Holy Name Cathedral, bullet holes from a 1926 gangster shootout are still visible. The Renaissance Blackstone Chicago Hotel, which boasts that Capone patronized its barbershop, offers a "good to be a gangster" package.
"Hollywood got it right. These were exciting, charismatic guys who really captured the imagination of the public," says Jonathan Eig, a Chicago resident and author of the 2010 book Get Capone.
Chicago had a reputation for illicit activity by the 1840s, but the arrival of Capone from New York in 1919 and Prohibition's start in 1920 launched the headline-grabbing reign of criminal groups that ran gambling, alcohol and prostitution rackets. Gangsters here were and are still called the Outfit. The moniker probably originated with Western ranch hands and military buddies, says John Binder, a University of Illinois-Chicago finance professor who wrote the 2003 book The Chicago Outfit.
Binder, who leads tours of gangsters' lavish suburban homes four times a year, says Capone's notoriety during and after his lifetime cemented Chicago's reputation as a rough-and-tumble haven for criminals. "He crossed over from being an historical figure to a legend, like Billy the Kid," he says. "As time goes by, the nasty side of it is forgotten and the fascinating side rises to the forefront. The interest doesn't go away."
One of Binder's favorite spots is the site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in a garage where Capone's gang allegedly gunned down seven rivals. At Capone's grave in Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in suburban Hillside, he says, admirers often leave whiskey bottles, coins and Valentine cards. Binder doubts Chicago's bloody history taints its current reputation. "It's history," he says. "It's not going to go away, and it's part of what Chicago is."
Jim Peters, president of the preservation group Landmarks Illinois, says the city "has been very hesitant to glorify or recognize" its gangster sites.
Capone's onetime headquarters, the Lexington Hotel, was designated a Chicago landmark by the group for its architecture but was torn down in 1995, he says. An effort to have Capone's home added to the National Register of Historic Places failed.
The Biograph has landmark status "more because of the significance of the building," Peters says.
Craig Alton, owner of the Untouchable Tours, a two-hour bus journey to Chicago gangster locales that's marking its 24th summer, says he had trouble getting city licenses for his business when it began. He believes the city's gangster era is worth commemorating.
"It's history," he says. "We get people who have found this stuff interesting for their whole life. Everybody has a relationship with Al Capone."
Interest in gangsters was one reason Tamotsu Hata and his wife, Yuki, both 29, included Chicago in their first visit to the USA from their home in Tokyo. They took a taxi to the massacre site and planned to stop next at the Biograph.
"We love this part of American history and we have seen many movies about it," says Tamotsu Hata. His wife's favorite was the 2009 movie Public Enemies and the star who portrayed Dillinger. What intrigues Yuki Hata most about Chicago's gangsters? "Johnny Depp."
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Christopher 'Dudus' Coke is reportedly still in good spirits, despite languishing in a United States maximum-security prison since last year
Christopher 'Dudus' Coke is reportedly still in good spirits, despite languishing in a United States maximum-security prison since last year June. He is slated to return to court on July 8, for a scheduling hearing, at which time a date for the start of his trial could be set. Below is a motion filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by Attorney-at-law Stephen Rosen to exclude all wiretap evidence from use at the trial.
The defendant, Christopher Michael Coke, through undersigned counsel, files this motion to exclude all wiretap evidence. This motion is filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12.
From the year 2005 through the year 2009, federal law-enforcement agents from the government of the United States were engaged in a joint venture with law-enforcement personnel of the Government of Jamaica to conduct a narcotics investigation of defendant Coke.
During the above period of time, defendant Coke was a citizen of Jamaica, who never visited the United States. However, defendant Coke participated in telephone communications between himself, while physically in Jamaica, and others, who were physically present in the United States and who were predominately physically present in the State of New York.
During the above period of time, federal law-enforcement agents of the government of the United States and Jamaican law-enforcement agents, working together in a joint venture, intercepted and interpreted many, if not all, of the above referenced telephone conversations involving defendant Coke.
Privacy
The country of Jamaica has a Constitution, which grants to Jamaican citizens the equivalent of what is considered in the United States to be a constitutional right of privacy, more specifically freedom of expression that is protected from government interference.
The country of Jamaica has an Interception of Communications Act, which was enacted in the year 2002. In pertinent part, this act requires that any non-consented-to electronic interception of a private telephone call be done upon obtaining an order from a judge, based upon a legally sufficient application for a warrant.
Additionally, this statute limits both those persons, who can conduct the court-ordered interception, and those persons, to whom the intercepted communications can be disseminated to, ie limits the persons who can listen to or read any transcripts of the intercepted communications. It is a crime under Jamaican law for an authorised officer to disclose an intercepted communication to someone whom the judge and the intercept law do not authorise to have the interception disclosed.
Interception orders
During the above time period, a Jamaican judge issued approximately 13 interception orders in the year 2005, approximately six interception orders in the year 2006, 19 interception orders in the year 2007, five interceptions in the year 2008, and seven interception orders in the year 2009. At no time was the Jamaican judge advised that the agents of the Government of the United States would be involved in the interception and dissemination of the interceptions of defendant Coke's private telephonic communications.
On May 31, 2011, the United States Government declassified and provided to undersigned counsel two previously secret memoranda of understanding between the executive branch of the government of the United States and the Government of Jamaica. The person who signed these agreements on behalf of the Government of the United States was the chief of operations of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration on April 27, 2004. This agreement established a joint venture between Jamaican law enforcement and United States law enforcement regarding, among other things, dissemination of interceptions of private communications by law-enforcement personnel in Jamaica.
Law-enforcement agents of the government of the United States knowingly obtained interceptions of defendant Coke's private communications while knowing that judges of the country of Jamaica were not advised that the United States law enforcement persons were obtaining the Jamaican interceptions of Coke, and that those interceptions were being obtained in violation of Jamaican constitutional and statutory law.
Moreover, these two secret agreements were never provided to the Senate of the United States for its advice and consent, as is done with treaties.
In essence, the Government of the United States knowingly and surreptitiously stole the Coke wiretap interceptions from Jamaica.
On June 14, 2011, an investigative body of the Government of Jamaica filed a detailed report of an investigation, which that Government conducted of the interceptions of defendant Coke's communications. Following the calling of 20 named witnesses before The Commission Of Enquiry Into The Extradition Request [of the Government of the United States] for Christopher Coke, this report made the following conclusions.
First, the Jamaican Interception of Communications Act did not intend that interceptions obtained pursuant to that act be disclosed to foreign governments.
Second, the above-discussed secret memoranda of understanding did not comply with Jamaican Interception of Communications Act.
Third, the giving, by Jamaican law-enforcement personnel to federal law-enforcement agents of the United States, was a breach of the Jamaican constitutional rights of defendant Coke.
The present Jamaican attorney general has prepared an affidavit signed January 6, 2011, which undersigned counsel possesses, that comes to the same conclusion as that of the above-stated Commission of Enquiry.
Rights violation
The introduction at defendant Coke's trial in this court of the wiretap evidence knowingly illegally obtained by the Government of the United States from interceptions conducted in Jamaica will violate defendant Coke's Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution of the United States. The basis of exclusion is the action of the United States Government in obtaining this wiretap evidence from Jamaica.
Defendant Coke was an aggrieved person able to contest interceptions obtained under Title III within the United States. The basis of applications for those interceptions conducted within the United States by federal agents, were various above-discussed Jamaican wiretaps. Wiretap evidence from those domestic interceptions, which the government intends to introduce at defendant Coke's trial in this Court, are excludable as tainted from the above illegal conduct by the government of the United States in its actions in Jamaica.
Wherefore defendant moves to exclude all wiretap evidence from use at defendant Coke's trial.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
JAMAICA Undertakers' pockets impacted by murder drop
WHEN Tommy Thompson and his Brite-Lite Funeral Services shot to fame in the early 2000s, the murder toll in Jamaica averaged 1,000 each year. By the middle of the decade, when the numbers gradually increased to upwards of 1,500, Brite-Lite had become a virtual household name, popular for its extravagant, showy ceremonies and long list of reputed don and gang leader/clientele.
The funerals of former Arnett Gardens don William 'Willie Haggart' Moore in 2001, former Clansman leader Donovan 'Bulbie' Bennett in 2005, and former One Order head honcho Andrew 'Bunman' Hope in 2006 were said to have cost millions of dollars each.
But those were the good days.
Thompson said that since late last year, when the police started announcing a consistent trending down of the murder figures, the undertaking business has been taking a battering.
"(Business) has gone down, maybe 40 per cent over maybe a six-month period because as you know the present commissioner has been doing a good job as it relates to the curtailing of murders and I must say, yes, it has affected the pockets of undertakers and there is no question about that; whether directly or indirectly, it has affected undertakers," he told the Sunday Observer.
"It definitely affects the funeral homes because once the murder rate goes down then it affects the earnings and everything that surrounds the funeral home... Let's say 100 people die in a week and then all of a sudden it cuts to 50, then you have less funerals and less intake of funds, that's what it comes down to," Thompson added.
The Brite-Lite head said a funeral home can gross over $10 million a year.
"For the year you can do anything over maybe 10 million, especially if the business is thriving. You can earn over that quite easily, because you can get four or five or six funerals for the month, let's say at $200,000," he said. Using four funerals per month, the total earnings, less expenses, would be $38.4 million for the year.
Even at rates of between $60,000 and $65,000 a funeral business can gross millions in any given year. If the parlour does three funerals per week, at $65,000 each, it can earn just over $10 million, minus expenses.
In January this year, the police reported that all major crimes -- murders, shooting, rape, carnal abuse, robbery, break-ins, and larceny -- declined by seven per cent in 2010, when compared to 2009. Murder itself, they said, decreased by 15 per cent, totalling 1428 in 2010, as against 1682 in 2009.
They have linked much of the reduction to the apprehending of former Tivoli Gardens 'don' Christopher 'Dudus' Coke who was extradited to the United States after a bloody police/military operation in West Kingston last May.
But undertakers like Thompson, who say that as Jamaicans they welcome news of a reduction in crime, can't ignore the effects on their bottom line.
Telbert Roberts of Roberts Funeral Home, which operates in St Ann and St Catherine, said he had more business up to January this year. He spoke from the point of view of being a government-contracted undertaker for St Catherine.
"I am one of the contractors for the Government, so from that end (the reduction in murders) affects me. Compared to November, December, January when murders were rampant, and moreso in the Spanish Town area, I was doing more cases for the Government," said Roberts.
On the other hand, president of the 15-member Funeral Directors Association Ferdinand Madden said his members were not experiencing any fallout from the drop in murders.
"I can safely speak on behalf of the members of the association that the drop in murders is not affecting our business. In fact, I can speak for all funeral homes because I don't know of any funeral home that survives from murder cases.
"I don't think it would affect us much because that's just one cause of death. It doesn't affect us much as how people think. If anything, it affects us in a positive way because we are all Jamaicans and we deserve to live free from murders."
Madden, whose Madden's Funeral Home handles cases for the Government, said he deals mostly with cases of natural and sudden death, death by accident, death by suspicious methods, for "No funeral parlour would want (murder) to be their core business".
"Natural causes like hypertension and cancer would be a larger piece of the pie," he told the Sunday Observer.
Over in Manchester, operator of Lyn's Funeral Services — which has branches in Mandeville and Christiana — Calvin Lyn, said the impact on his family-owned business has been negligible.
"It is likely because if you have more deceased persons, then it's more business, but we don't depend on murder cases for our business, " he said.
"Violent deaths don't even account for 10 per cent of our business. Deaths from illnesses such as sugar, diabetes, hypertension, etc, account for the vast majority of our cases," he added, pointing out that suicide, drowning and traffic accidents were also classified as violent deaths.
"So, no, it doesn't affect us adversely in the sense that we are in the funeral industry and we don't really wait for people to die violently or by sickness, but whether the murder rate increases or not does not mean that funeral homes do more business, " said Lyn.
"We, and I personally as a patriotic Jamaican, I am happy when crime is down and hope that we can eliminate it."
One reason he and his colleagues say the effect of the reduced murder figures has been barely noticeable is the increased competition in the field and an influx of untrained personnel. This situation, the undertakers said, was begging for the industry to be regulated.
Adding to the conversation, Joseph Cornwall Sr of House of Tranquillity, with branches in Portmore and downtown Kingston, said: "It wouldn't really affect us in any great way because our core business is sudden death and repatriation. We get four, five, six cases per month from overseas from countries like the USA, Canada, England.
"The numbers (earnings) will always go up because of the increase in prices and in the number of cases, but when
you consider the overhead expenses and the adjustment in funeral packages based on the financial situation of individual families, it doesn't necessarily mean that we're making all this money," he added.
Michael Jones, whose undertaking business is based in downtown Kingston, had a similar position.
"It's not affecting me because I don't depend on murders. I depend on the word of God. He is the one that is providing for me. I do mostly natural causes (of death). I don't like to deal with violent deaths and it's more work for me than the natural causes, which don't need autopsy. I do them if I get them, but even if they stop murder people, I will survive.
"Two-thirds of my cases are from natural causes, the rest is from accidents, homicides etc," said Jones.
And in Hague, Trelawny, operator of Reynolds Funeral Home, Howard Reynolds, said the decreased murder numbers have had no impact on his bottom line given that the cane farming area is relatively poor and has never had a high murder rate.
"Where we are based, we have a low murder rate, something you can count on one of yuh hand, so in terms of business it never fluctuate neither up nor down because of that low rate.
"Many people here don't have any money... we have a $65,000-package. We well want to move (up) from there, but people just don't have the money.
"We have had a cedar casket worth $450,000 for the past four or five years. People would like to get it, but they just don't have the money," Reynolds said.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
TWO British women were subjected to a horrific gang rape on a tropical holiday island
TWO British women were subjected to a horrific gang rape on a tropical holiday island it emerged today.
The women, aged in their 30s, were camping on an idyllic beach on the Caribbean island of St Lucia when the attack took place.
They were reportedly ambushed by a group of six masked men as they packed their belongings to move camp for the night.
The terrifying assault happened shortly before midnight on Tuesday May 10, at the isolated Grande Anse Beach on the island's north east coast.
The gang ran away when they noticed the headlights of an approaching car.
Cops were questioning six men over the attack today.
The female pals were apparently enjoying an environmental expedition on the far-flung tropical island and had been staying at the remote spot since the previous night.
It is believed that they had felt worried after returning to their campsite on Tuesday evening to find that someone had ransacked through their belongings.
It is not clear if anything had been stolen.
Police say the women started packing up when they were ambushed by the gang.
Both women were raped.
The island's Rape Crisis Centre has issued safety warnings and is advising women to be extra vigilant especially when visiting the beaches after dark.
The British High Commission in St Lucia has reportedly sent its sympathies to the victims, while expressing concern that local police had failed to alert them to the alleged attack.
British High Commissioner Karl Burrows described the incident as a "dreadful crime", adding: "We are in touch with the St Lucia police force and they are confident of a successful outcome."
Mr Burrows said that such violent attacks on tourists were rare in St Lucia, a popular holiday destination for families and honeymooning couples.
He said: " As far as all crimes are concerned, we obviously have a particular responsibility for British nationals in St Lucia.
"To put it into context, we have about 75,000 British visitors to St Lucia each year and the vast majority of visits are incident free.
"Our advice to British nationals is that common sense rules apply.
"There is crime as there is everywhere but St Lucia is a friendly and welcoming country.
"Overall crime rates are low but common sense rules do apply. We advise against being in isolated areas after dark."
Grande Anse is St Lucia's most secluded beach, known for its rougher waters and unspoilt, rugged coastline.
It is a popular spot for turtle watching, attracting organised daytime tours and smaller groups of explorers and nature-lovers.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We can confirm an incident involving two British nationals in St Lucia. We have offered consular assistance."
Monday, 9 May 2011
Fraudster Lynda Smith was so successful posing as a top businesswoman that she featured on a documentary about the rich and famous – eyeing up a luxury yacht.
The programme, called That’s Rich, also showed Smith at a glitzy charity event at a premiere of the Keira Knightley film Pride and Prejudice. To friends and investors, she was every inch the company director – even if she was seen as a little eccentric.
Her Wilmslow home was littered with dozens of soft-toy frogs and frog ornaments, as well as expensive frog-shaped jewellery. But investigators from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills discovered that behind her lavish spending lay a web of lies and deception.
The judge at Manchester Crown Court accepted Smith’s Les Frogs brand had enjoyed a ‘considerable measure’ of early success. But from the middle of 2003, Smith embarked on a series of bids for funding from banks, in which the jury had found she acted dishonestly.
Smith had painstakingly compiled a portfolio that included celebrity endorsements and pictures of some of the world’s most recognisable figures wearing her clothes. She used it to deceive people into believing that her business was thriving. An analysis of company bank accounts showed outgoings of more than £1,080,000, with an income – excluding bank loans – of just £167,000.
Even romantic partners found themselves out of pocket. On one occasion she fleeced a retired merchant seaman lover out of thousands of pounds investment, which produced little in return.
When one of her firms, Les Frogs Promotions, reached its £10,000 overdraft with a bank in 2002, she never repaid it and instead passed it on to another bank. In August 2003 she obtained another overdraft of £10,000 and loans of £70,000.
As Smith’s problems spiralled, the overdraft was increased to £40,000. By 2005, the bank was demanding £150,000.
None of it was repaid. Instead, Smith went to another bank with a ‘seriously misleading’ business plan and secured an £80,000 overdraft that was later extended to £120,000. Smith also borrowed £15,000 from a friend that was never repaid and obtained a loan of £40,000 from a finance company in May 2006.
She later set up a business in north Wales and was given loans from two men totalling £300,000. Another lover, a caricaturist, gave her £115,000. The jury was told at the end of the case that she had previously been jailed for 18 months for fraudulent trading in 1993.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Klansman' gangsters are losing their grip on business in Spanish Town, St Catherine.
WITH the recent conviction of leader Tesha Miller and the deaths of several of their more notorious cronies, police say 'Klansman' gangsters are losing their grip on business in Spanish Town, St Catherine.
"Klansman is disappearing more and more and what we are seeing is a rise in the confidence and security of consumers and businesses," said Deputy Police Superintendent Victor Hamilton, one of the commanders in the St Catherine North police division.
Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force on patrol in Spanish Town, St Catherine. (Observer file photo)
1/2
"Persons, bus operators and store owners, are breathing a sigh of relief because they can operate their businesses better and safer. That is the feedback we are getting, and we have been getting a lot of praises for it," Hamilton told the Observer.
According to the police officer, a series of police operations and curfews in the old capital have forced many Klansman gangsters to flee previously safe havens.
At least nine curfews have been implemented in Klansman-controlled communities in Spanish Town since Friday. The curfews encompassed sections of March Pen, Corletts Road, Rivoli, Railway Premises, Dallas Lane, Damhead and Crescent District.
"They (gangsters) have taken to the bushes and river banks," said Hamilton, noting that the police remain vigilant and committed to maintaining their periodic searches of these areas. Their task is far from easy, however, as thickly vegetated areas abound in St Catherine, the island's third largest parish.
Earlier this year, divisional head, Superintendent Anthony Castell said that the Klansman gang was crumbling under the pressures of an internal power struggle. The rivalry, he said, resulted in its members fleeing to other parishes.
"Right now, there is no war between them (Klansman) and members of the 'One Order' gang (The other major criminal network operating in Spanish Town)," said Castell.
"They are fighting amongst themselves, it is an internal or intra-gang conflict. That is the reason they have shifted their operations to places like Portmore," he said.
The police theorise that the gang will continue to disintegrate without its leader, Tesha Miller, who was earlier this month sentenced to 15 years in prison for gun-related offences.
Since Miller's arrest last December, at least seven alleged members of the gang have been killed; five by the security forces and the others by their cronies, police said.
Those killed by the security forces were Donovan Topping, Joel Jennings, otherwise called 'JJ'; 24-year-old Amal Roman, otherwise called 'Satan'; and two unidentified men.
Gunmen, in the meantime, shot and killed Jermaine Morrison, alias 'Speedy', 31; and a man whom police identified only as 'Pazzam'. He was among five persons shot dead on January 24, a week before Morrison's murder.
Their killings have not only fuelled brazen attacks on police personnel in Spanish Town but have also resulted in the murders of several residents, including two women said to be Morrison's relatives.
While the Klansman gang "implodes", police say they are keeping a keen watch on their rivals, the 'One Order' gang, which they claim is also showing signs of weakening.
"There are persons in the Homestead community (one of the stomping grounds of 'One Order' gangsters in St Catherine) who say they are not 'One Order' and that they are not taking any orders from 'One Order' leadership. So, they have separated from the main group and have called themselves 'Unity,'" Hamilton said.
"But, what is happening is that some members of 'Klansman' are seeking refuge in communities controlled by 'Unity' members. And you know that once that happens there is always going to be very serious conflict between the groups," he said.
Hamilton said that as a result, police presence had also been increased in Homestead, as well as in sections of John's Road, Tawes Pen, and Elleslie Pen, which are some of the other areas frequented by 'One Order' gang members.
While Hamilton declined to say whether the fact that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) — of which 'One Order' members are staunch supporters — is currently in power has contributed to the lull in criminal activity by that faction, a recent study by anthropologist Dr Herbert Gayle on social violence, has indicated that there may be some merit to that view.
"Our Government is in power. I do not expect any attacks right now. Tivoli is enough," a young man from a JLP-based community was quoted as saying in Gayle's study.
President of the St Catherine Chamber of Commerce Dennis Robotham confirmed the claim by the police that life in the old capital had become safer and more comfortable for business owners in the parish.
"There is a distinct decline in extortion. What has happened is that the fellows that would normally target the businesses have grown wary," Robotham said.
"Ever since the (Tivoli Gardens) incursion, and with the many operations in Spanish Town, extortion has declined. Without question we have to give high marks for the efforts of the police.
"Sometimes their (police) measures seem draconian but one would have to understand exactly what we are up against to fully understand why they have to operate in the way they do," he said.
On Friday, two operators in the public transportation system also confirmed an increase in comfort and safety inside the Spanish Town Bus Terminal; once the prime feeding ground for Klansman and One Order extortionists.
"Extortion? It not so bad like one time. Now you can eat a food," said a taxi driver who plies the route between Spanish Town and Linstead, also in St Catherine.
"You just have to pay your $150 for the day in the office and you good. Is not like one time when the boy them use to full up out here," he said.
A minibus operator who plies the Old Harbour route offered: "Apart from the loader-men (touts) who pressure you for money on every trip, we good. Is just dem alone come in like ticks out here."
But things were not as kosher for one taxi driver who operates from a service station at the intersection of Young Street and Burke Road.
According to him, extortion is still rampant in that area, where thugs demand upwards of $200 per day from taxi operators.
"Police don't know what they are talking about. Maybe in the bus park which is gated they don't have that problem, but out here they make life miserable," he said.
"Every day dem (extortionists) out here; we can't work in peace... and they come from both Klansman and One Order," he said.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
McRage Why is there so much violent crime at fast-food restaurants
When video of the brutal assault of a transgendered woman at a McDonald
's near Baltimore went viral last week, McDonald's released a statement: "There's no room for violence under the Golden Arches." But in the annals of American crime, the fast-food-chain assault has become as iconic as the postal-worker shooting spree.In January, Toledo, Ohio, resident Melodi Dushane punched out a McDonald's drive-through window when she was told they didn't sell Chicken McNuggets in the morning. Another woman recently drove through a crowd of people in a McDonald's parking lot, injuring four. In 2008, a Los Angeles man punched a 16-year-old girl in the face at a McDonald's after she complained about him cutting the line. A Wendy's customer reportedly assaulted a female clerk at a drive-through window in 2007 after she didn't tell him to "have a nice day." The list goes on. Spike Jonze even made a fast-food beating the centerpiece of his music video for Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs." (You can find a compilation of restaurant violence here.)
Fast-food restaurants haven't entirely replaced banks as crime targets, and criminal activity in such places is no longer on the rise. (Crimes like this, however, are.) The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the number of homicides at "limited service restaurants," which include fast-food chains like McDonald's and KFC, has declined from 35 in 2007 to 15 in 2009. But fast-food establishments like Wendy's and Burger King do see more crime than their "full-service" counterparts, like Ruby Tuesday's or the Olive Garden. BLS estimates that the rate of assaults at limited-service restaurants is more than twice as high as at full-service restaurants. Whereas sit-down restaurants had 0.8 assaults per 10,000 employees in 2009, fast-food joints had 1.8.
Why the difference? The primary reason is that fast-food chains are unusually vulnerable to robbery, which accounts for most of the violence at fast-food stores. Like gas stations and convenience stores, fast-food chains open early and close late. But customers there tend to use cash more than at gas stations, which have switched almost entirely to credit cards. And unlike convenience stores, fast-food places don't always limit the amount of cash that an employee can access. It doesn't help that fast-food workers are paid so little. More often than not, the robber is a friend of an employee or an employee himself. Location is a factor, too. What makes McDonald's restaurants so convenient to customers—they're located at major thoroughfares and intersections—also makes them great robbery targets. (Drive-throughs make for especially easy getaways.)
Demographics play a role as well. McDonald's bourgie makeover notwithstanding, most fast-food chains cater largely to young, low-income customers. (Burger King's since-abandoned "The King" campaign was specifically aimed at "young adult male consumers.") Restaurants in high-crime areas will occasionally become crime scenes. Fast-food chains become easy places to loiter, which can lead to arguments or worse. "When you've got a relatively uneducated, young workforce and piss-poor management, put them in a high-stress situation—a burger-and-fries environment—and you'll get some improper conduct," says David Van Fleet, a professor of management at Arizona State University and co-author of The Violence Volcano: Reducing the Threat of Workplace Violence.
Customers may feel stressed out, too. Professors at the University of Toronto released a study in 2010 concluding that exposure to the logos of fast-food chains like Wendy's and Burger King made people hasty and impatient. When "fast" food doesn't live up to its name, people might lash out.
The "trend" of fast-food violence isn't really a trend. Any apparent uptick in domestic abuse at the Home of the Whopper probably owes more to YouTube and camera phones than to growing unruliness. But as with postal workers, all it takes are a few bad apples. Goodbye "going postal"; hello "McRage."
19-year-old woman who was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting
19-year-old woman who was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting late Monday night in south Minneapolis 
will likely die Tuesday, according to her aunt.Tomika Swoope is in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center following the shooting, which happened shortly before 10 p.m. at 3232 Columbus Ave. S.
Swoope was driven to Abbott Northwestern before she was transferred to HCMC.
In an exclusive interview with FOX 9 News, Swoop’s aunt, Lori Madison, said her niece was outside her house when the drive-by shooting occurred. She said Swoope was an innocent bystander and does not know who the shooter was or who the intended target was.
Madison said about five bullets sprayed the house, one hitting Swoope in the head.
Minneapolis police Sgt. Bill Palmer said there is conflicting information in the police report as to what happened.
No suspects are in custody. It’s unknown whether or not the suspect and victims knew each other or if the shooting was gang-related.
'superheroes' step in to help protect prostitutes from the Craigslist killer
Self-styled superheroes
have offered their help in fighting the serial killer thought to be behind the murders of over a dozen prostitutes in New York City.The New York Initiative (NYI) - a group of vigilantes who model themselves on comic book superheroes - have posted an advert on classified ads website Craigslist offering 'rescue teams' for hookers whose clients' turn violent.
NYI, who identify themselves as a group of 'martial arts trainers, security specialists, emergency first responders, drug counsellors, former military police and former law enforcement', are also offering free martial arts and weapons training to the women.
The murderer stalking New York - dubbed the Craiglist Killer because he targets women selling sex through Craigslist - is thought to be behind the deaths up to 13 prostitutes.
Most of the bodies so far found had been dumped in scrub land on the southern coast of Long Island, New York. All had been strangled and stuffed in burlap sacks.
According to their advert, NYI have offered their help to prostitutes because 'apparently the law doesn't respect your personal choices and that means cops are slower to follow through when it comes to you.'
The group is offering 'a number to call and a few one-number or one-word codes you can say or text to us so that we can contact someone to assist you with a possibly violent date.'
They add: 'We will react quickly and without hesitation every time, using our considerable contacts to the full extent of their reach.' And they promise not to involve the police unless there is a risk of 'serious danger'.
The New York Initiative patrol the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan by night, attempting to deter crime.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Daniel crime clan blamed for blaze at garage belonging to rival Lyons family - The Daily Record
The Record yesterday revealed that firebugs torched five cars outside Applerow Motors in Maryhill, Glasgow
, on Wednesday night.Detectives yesterday launched a probe into the blaze and confirmed it had been started deliberately.
The garage is owned by David Lyons, a relative of the notorious Lyons family.
In 2006, the garage was the scene of a triple shooting in which Lyons’ nephew Michael was murdered.
An underworld source said of the fire: “This has all the hallmarks of the Daniel family sending out a message to the Lyons."
Friday, 4 June 2010
Libera gangsters threaten paradise - Times LIVE
Libera
gangsters threaten paradise - Times LIVE: "Sapo National Park is more often likened to a gangster's paradise as it has become a haven where armed, illegal gold miners and commercial hunters thrive with impunity. Living in camps going by country names such as America, Afghanistan, Iraq and Congo, these miners and poachers run a tight ship, threatening anyone who ventures too"
Strip club 'like gunpowder': gang expert
The Montreal police are seeking to have the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux revoke Club Temptation's liquor permit based on the argument that the downtown strip bar poses a threat to public safety.
The club's liquor licence was temporarily suspended in April.
During three days of hearings, investigators have testified that, while the club is owned on paper by Joseph Vallera, a 61-year-old Montrealer, it is actually controlled by Goodridge, 41, a man with alleged ties to several street gangs"
Gangs Reportedly Growing in Mountain State - WVNS-TV - WVNSTV.com
One undercover officer with the Charleston Police Department told us they’ve dealt with a slew of street gangs including Bloods, Crips and the Folk Nation out of Chicago. Lately they’ve seen a lot of action from what they call hybrid gangs.
“A lot of times the New York guys, or the Detroit, Columbus guys, they will come in and maybe one or two guys will try to set up a gang here,” said one of the undercover police officers we interviewed.
Hybrid gangs are often created by out-of-towners. Sometimes they also learn the trade through pop culture like music videos, or the internet. Often times hybrid gangs are focused on money, and have less hardcore affiliations with a larger group. In other words, Bloods and Crips will sometimes work together when it’s profitable.
The movement of gangs in West Virginia has kept Charleston Police Detective Eric Smith busy for years. He’s tracked gangs since he worked a street route along the Third Avenue and Bream Street area in Charleston during the 90s. He learned first-hand that gangs don’t need residency to wreak havoc on an area."
TODAYonline | Singapore | Two more M'sian gang members charged
Nineteen-year-old Hairee Anak Landak faces a murder charge of allegedly killing construction worker Shanmuganathan Dillidurai."
DigitalGoa.com - Goa, Goa Breaking News, Goa Holidays, Goa Centric Portal, Goa Yellow Pages, Explore Goa, Goa News Headlines, Goa News, Goa Current Affairs, Goa Events
LinkWithin
