Prisons and probation

Police in Southern California released horrific surveillance footage on Thursday showing an alleged 33-year-old gang member violently stabbing a woman at an insurance agency during a gruesome crime spree in which four people were killed and two others wounded. The video’s time stamp shows that at around 6pm on Wednesday, a man in a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and blue t-shirt underneath walked into the Best One insurance agency in Garden Grove, California. The man initially appears to be carrying a small over-the-shoulder knapsack. He then approaches the front desk, where a woman is sitting near a computer. WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO  Surveillance footage released by the Garden Grove Police Department on Thursday shows an armed robbery and stabbing at the Best One Insurance Agency on Wednesday The assailant is seen above holding a large knife in each hand. He approaches a 54-year-old employee seated at her office desk The assailant stabs the woman several … [Read more...] about Horrific video shows knife-wielding assailant violently stab woman, 54, in insurance agency during ‘random’ rampage in California that killed four people as police say suspect is a ‘violent’ gang member who had been in prison 14 times and ‘should never hav

The offences committed by Joseph McCann are among some of the most horrific imaginable. His many victims and their families, left with the lifelong consequences of his barbaric actions, will rightfully want answers as to how he was free to commit them. McCann was jailed in 2008 for aggravated burglary, a violent offence, under an imprisonment for public protection sentence. IPPs were introduced by the Labour government in the mid-2000s and were designed to protect the public from serious offenders whose crimes did not merit a life sentence. Offenders given an IPP are set a minimum term, referred to as a tariff, which they must spend in prison. In McCann’s case this was two and a half years. There is no maximum cap on the term. Rather, the offender can be released only once the Parole Board assesses them as fit to go free. Once released, they are managed in the community for at least 10 years – an extensive licence period. In McCann’s case he was released on licence … [Read more...] about Joseph McCann case is about the system not the sentence

A mum who sought solace in drink and drugs after she was raised in an abusive cult has made an astonishing transformation. Before and after pictures chart 42-year-old Jen Elizabeth's harrowing journey from drug addiction and alcoholism to a clean life of sobriety. The California woman had become an alcoholic at age 12 after fleeing the cult where she had been molested. Jen, now an author and mum, has shared her experience of learning to process her pain and shed the shackles of addiction in hope of inspiring others to follow her path. Pictures of her recovery journey show her transformation from a woman with a haunted, blemished appearance whose bleak stare is captured in a series of police mugshots to a happy, healthy mum. She has told how addiction and mental illness were key features of her home life as a child. When she was just three years old, her parents joined a religious cult where she was molested until she was nine, when they finally escaped. The years of sexual abuse she … [Read more...] about Incredible transformation of addict raised in cult who started drinking at 12

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn have clashed in the final head-to-head debate of the 2019 election campaign. The pair faced off in an hour-long challenge on the BBC over terror, tax, the NHS and their plans for spending. As usual Boris Johnson made a string of claims about both Labour's claims and his own. But as usual, not all of those claims were in fact true. From Labour's tax plans to the party's record on security, Mr Johnson trotted out a string of claims which just don't entirely stand up to scrutiny. We've debunked his usual whoppers about 50,000 more nurses and 40 new hospitals before - you can read our explanations here. But here are six new claims he made that left us scratching our heads. On Labour's tax plans WHAT HE SAID: "I think it's quite incredible that Mr Corbyn should claim that people on £20,000 a year are amongst the richest in society and therefore deserve to be clobbered by his tax increases." THE FACTS:Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to raise Income Tax only … [Read more...] about BBC election debate: 6 misleading claims Boris Johnson made on live TV

Following newspaper reports that the Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole accidentally shot an intern with an air rifle at the Premier League champions' Cobham training base, a delve into the archive shows that the left-back would not be the first player to be caught up in controversy over firearms. Javier Flórez The Colombian went too far after his Atlético Junior team lost to Once Caldas in a 2009 local tournament final. Driving away after the match, the midfielder shot into a group of supporters who chanted "weak, weak, weak" at him. One man was killed. Following his release from prison on £45,000 bail, Flórez said that he had been "drunk and angry" when the shooting happened, before adding: "He really upset me, but I repent in my heart. I just hope people know what I have suffered." Flórez was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years' probation. He returned to the team in January 2010. Darren Bent The England striker received a caution … [Read more...] about Footballers and guns