Two men killed in farm slurry pit

16 July 2011 Last updated at 10:04 GMT Firefighters were called to the farm at Stapleford Tawney just after 1700 BST on Friday Two men have died after becoming trapped in a slurry pit in Essex.

Firefighters were called to Albyns Lane in Stapleford Tawney, near Ongar, just after 1700 BST on Friday.

An Essex Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "Two men have died at the slurry pit and a further two men have have been injured and placed in the care of the ambulance service."

He said the fire service was working with police and the Health and Safety Executive to establish what happened.

Firefighters drained 120,000 litres (31,700 gallons) of slurry on to a field as part of the rescue operations.

Crews from Ongar, Loughton, Harlow and Brentwood attended the scene.

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Man tells jury 'I killed Lynette'

13 July 2011 Last updated at 11:12 GMT Jeffrey Gafoor was jailed for life for the murder in 2003 The man convicted of murdering Cardiff prostitute Lynette White has told a jury he killed her alone.

Jeffrey Gafoor, 46, is a prosecution witness in a Swansea trial of eight ex-police officers accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Three men were wrongly convicted of the docklands' murder in 1988.

In 2003 Gafoor, a client of Ms White, was jailed for life for her murder. Two others deny perjury at the crown court trial.

The prosecution claim that the former South Wales Police officers manufactured evidence that led to the convictions of Ms White's boyfriend and pimp Stephen Miller, Yusef Abdullahi - who has since died - and Tony Paris.

'Miscarriage of justice'

Continue reading the main story GRAHAM MOUNCHER (retired chief inspector) THOMAS PAGE (retired chief inspector) RICHARD POWELL (retired supt)JOHN SEAFORD (retired det con)MICHAEL DANIELS (retired det con)PETER GREENWOOD (retired det con)PAUL JENNINGS (retired det con)PAUL STEPHEN (retired sergeant)All the above deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Mr Mouncher also denies two counts of perjuryVIOLET PERRIAM and IAN MASSEY deny two counts of perjury.The men, who became known as the Cardiff Three, were convicted in 1990 of the murder but released from jail two years later by the Court of Appeal.

Taking to the stand in Swansea, Gafoor, was asked by the prosecution if he had pleaded guilty in 2003 to Ms White's murder.

"Yes I did," he replied.

He denied knowing any of the three men who were convicted of the murder in 1990.

"I now feel that it was a miscarriage of justice," he said.

"Their problems stemmed from my actions and I feel terrible about it.

"I know that they did not have anything to do with it and that they were completely innocent because I was the one who killed Lynette White.

"All the injuries she had she received from me. There was no cover-up of the killing."

"Grasped for knife"

Gafoor, who worked as a security guard, described stabbing the 20-year-old in the flat where her body was found in the docks area of Cardiff after an argument over money.

Gafoor said the last time he saw Lynette White she was lying face down on the floor

"I met Lynette White for her services as a prostitute but I changed my mind and asked for my money back," he said.

"We argued and I grasped for a knife to threaten her to get my money back.

"We both had the knife. In the course of an argument I stabbed her and she was killed.

"I remember stabbing but it is all a bit vague. I mean fuzzy. I don't want to say dreamlike but it is a lot like that.

"It seemed to go on a long time. I was shouting and she was shouting back at me."

He was asked if anyone else was in the flat at the time and he replied: "No, I was the only person in the flat.

"When I last saw her she was in the flat face down on the floor."

The court has heard after her death seven months of police investigation failed to get any result so officers allegedly began to "fit up" the innocent men for the murder.

They invented a fictional scenario which was "almost entirely a fabrication and was largely the product of the imagination," the court has heard.

The former officers are accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by agreeing to "mould, manipulate, influence and fabricate evidence".

The retired officers all deny the charges.

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Iraq hostages 'unlawfully killed'

21 June 2011 Last updated at 14:00 GMT Jason Creswell, Alec MacLachlan and Jason Swindlehurst (l-r) were captured in Iraq in May 2007 An inquest into the deaths of three British security guards in Iraq has found they were unlawfully killed.

Jason Swindlehurst, 38, of Skelmersdale, Lancs, Jason Creswell, 39, of Glasgow, and Alec MacLachlan, 30, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, were seized in Baghdad in May 2007.

They were unlawfully killed in 2008, Trowbridge Magistrates' Court heard.

A fourth guard seized with them, Alan McMenemy, 34, of Glasgow, is also believed to be dead.

IT consultant Peter Moore, from Lincoln, whom they were guarding, was also seized but released. He was released from captivity in Iraq in December 2009.

The inquest heard that, on 29 May 2007, the four security guards, armed with automatic rifles and pistols, collected Mr Moore and another IT consultant, Peter Donkin, from their accommodation in Baghdad's green zone.

They were escorted to the ministry of finance where the pair were installing a new IT system.

At about 1140 between 50 and 100 armed men dressed in police and military uniforms entered the building and took the four guards and Mr Moore hostage, the court heard.

The bodies of Mr Swindlehurst and Mr Creswell were flown back to the UK by the RAF in June 2009 after being passed to the UK authorities.

The body of Mr MacLachlan was flown back in September of that year.

A Foreign Office spokesman said it believed Alan McMenemy had been killed and efforts were continuing to try to establish his fate.

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UK soldier killed in Afghanistan

24 May 2011 Last updated at 09:50 GMT The soldier was part of a group dispatched to talk to local people A British soldier from 1st Battalion the Rifles was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan on Monday, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

The soldier was killed by a bomb while on a patrol in the Sayedabad Kalay area of the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.

An MoD spokesman said the soldier's next of kin have been informed.

The death takes the number of British military deaths in operations in Afghanistan since 2001 to 366.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lt Col Tim Purbrick, said: "The soldier was part of a foot patrol which had been deployed to meet and talk to the local people.

"The patrol had left their base and was moving to rendezvous with another patrol when the soldier was fatally struck by an improvised explosive device.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."

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Marine killed in Helmand is named

16 May 2011 Last updated at 18:21 GMT Marine Mead was killed by a bomb in the Nad Ali district of Helmand Province A Royal Marine killed by an explosion in Afghanistan on Sunday has been named by the Ministry of Defence.

Marine Nigel Dean Mead, of Lima Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines, was killed while searching a compound in Helmand province.

His mother Amanda said the 19-year-old from Carmarthen was "one in a hundred million".

His death takes the number of British military killed in operations in Afghanistan since 2001 to 365.

His mother added: "I could never write enough words that would truly say how much I loved and thought of you, you're not a one in a million son you are one in a hundred million."

Marine Mead, who was on his first tour of Afghanistan, joined the marines when he left school and was the youngest to pass out of his troop.

His father, Philip said: "Our Dean, our boy, our little Big Man, our hero always wanted to be a Royal Marine and he turned out to be one of the best. I am speechless at our tragic loss, but until we meet again you will forever be in our hearts."

Lt Col Ewen Murchison, Commanding Officer 42 Commando, said Marine Mead was "the epitome of a Royal Marines Commando".

"A young man with considerable inner strength, he was selfless, warm hearted, utterly professional and took enormous pride in his job," he said.

"Despite this being his first tour of Afghanistan, he was a marksman of note and an inspiration to those who worked closely with him."

Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox, said he was "deeply saddened" to hear of Marine Mead's death.

"The tributes from his fellow Royal Marines and family describe an exemplary young man with incredible enthusiasm who was committed to his duty and his friends. My thoughts and prayers are with Marine Mead's family and friends at this tragic time."

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