Woman jailed for second killing

13 July 2011 Last updated at 14:17 GMT Van Dungey did not give evidence at her trial A woman who served time for killing her partner has been jailed for life after being convicted of murdering another man at a party at her east London home.

Tracey Van Dungey, 43, of Sugden Way, Barking, stabbed Carl Everson, 41, three times in October 2010 in a "violent, drunken attack".

She had served 42 months for kicking and punching her partner Kevin Qui to death in 2004, the Old Bailey heard.

Judge Stephen Kramer ordered Van Dungey to serve a minimum of 19 years in jail.

The victim, who had been drinking at the party, was attacked by another woman, Kelly Gentry, 39, of Bedford Road, Tottenham, north London, before the fatal stabbing.

Mr Everson was beaten and stamped on and was unconscious on the living room floor when Van Dungey - who had personality disorders and was an alcoholic - "took advantage of his vulnerability and killed him", the court heard.

Gentry was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent

The judge told the killer: "I do not accept you did it as an act of mercy.

"You also appear to have removed his property."

Mr Everson, who had two children and three stepchildren, bled to death within two minutes, the court heard.

Gentry was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was remanded for reports.

In a statement the victim's sister, Anita, said: "We have sat in court trying to find out what happened but neither defendant gave evidence.

"Instead we are left wondering."

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'Dangerous' sex offender jailed

8 July 2011 Last updated at 15:21 GMT Gene Benjamin was given four life sentences A serial rapist who targeted women in a Dorset town over five years has been given four life sentences.

Gene Benjamin, 53, was convicted in May of seven rapes and nine assaults between 2005 and 2010. He had denied the offences.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard most of the women attacked worked as prostitutes in the town.

Police think many more women were attacked but feared further violence. Benjamin must serve at least 11 years.

Judge Samuel Wiggs said: "The victims were entitled to protection from the law. You are to be regarded as dangerous."

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Peer jailed for fiddling expenses

1 July 2011 Last updated at 16:46 GMT Lawyers for Lord Hanningfield said his age and poor health meant it was "cruel" to jail him Former Tory peer and Essex Council leader Lord Hanningfield has been jailed for nine months for fiddling his parliamentary expenses.

Paul White, 70, was convicted in May of six counts of false accounting relating to nearly ?14,000 of claims.

White has said he will seek leave to appeal against the verdict. If granted, the Court of Appeal will hear the case.

He had claimed money for overnight stays in London when he had actually returned home to Essex.

Peers, who are not paid a salary, were able to claim up to ?174-a-night when attending Parliament if their main home was outside the city.

Mileage claims

But during his trial in May, the court was told White submitted false claims for hotel bills including one when he was actually on board a flight to India at the time.

He also fraudulently claimed for train fares and car mileage.

White is the sixth parliamentarian to be jailed for expenses fraud. Tory peer Lord Taylor and four former Labour MPs - Eric Illsley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Elliot Morley - were all given prison sentences.

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Great trust was placed in peers to be honest in their claims for expenses. Lord Hanningfield and others have broken that trust”

End Quote Mr Justice Saunders Chaytor and Illsley have since been released under the home detention curfew scheme.

Passing sentence at Maidstone Crown Court, Mr Justice Saunders said the case could be "distinguished to some extent" from those of the former MPs as there were "ambiguities" in the expenses system in the Lords

"As I said in the case of Lord Taylor, the evidence I have heard suggests that the expenses scheme in the Lords was treated more flexibly than in the Commons," he said.

But the judge said it was clear that White had claimed for expenses "he did not incur" and his dishonesty had had "serious consequences" for the reputation of Parliament.

"He knew when he accepted a peerage that the job of a working peer was unpaid and he did not have to accept the honour," he said.

"It is not for me to say whether peers should or should not be paid but whatever you think of the scheme, it was not for any peer to take money to which he was not entitled, on the basis that he believes he is worth it."

"Great trust was placed in peers to be honest in their claims for expenses. The public expects no less of them. Lord Hanningfield and others have broken that trust."

'Cruel and unjust'

Lawyers for White said the offences had taken place "in six months of the prosecution's own choosing".

"The reality is that this man has actually given his own money for public service for all the 40 years he has been involved in it," said defence counsel Alun Jones QC.

White's poor health meant it was "cruel and unjust" to imprison him, he added: "It would only seek to appease a public opinion that has been moulded by the publicity over the past two years."

The BBC's Helen Fawkes said the judge had taken White's reportedly fragile mental state and his age into account before handing down the nine-month sentence - the shortest jail term of any resulting from the parliamentary expenses scandal.

She said the judge was told that the former peer had been diagnosed with clinical depression and had expressed suicidal ideas at the prospect of being sent to prison.

Mr Justice Saunders acknowledged a jail term would be harder for White than "for others who are mentally and physically fitter" but said there had to be consistency in sentencing across different expenses cases.

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Man jailed for murdering fiancée

28 June 2011 Last updated at 14:58 GMT A man who battered his fiancee to death two days after he was released from a six-month sentence for assaulting her has been jailed for life.

David McLeish, 46, was convicted of murdering 43-year-old Donna Black, at a flat in Clydebank, last December.

The High Court in Glasgow heard how the "vicious attack" left Ms Black with 13 rib fractures and brain damage.

Judge Lord Bracadale ordered McLeish to serve a minimum of 17 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

The court heard how McLeish had 57 previous convictions which included assault.

Ms Black, who was just 5ft 3in tall, was left with horrific injuries after McLeish, who is 6ft 4in and 18 stone, punched and kicked her. He also smashed a frying pan over her head.

The beating caused five large tears in her bowel and one in her spleen and she died from severe internal injuries to her abdomen.

'I'm being murdered'

The court was told that as McLeish battered his fiancee she managed to make a frantic 999 call to police saying: "I'm being murdered."

Minutes later police arrived at the scene and had to kick down the door.

Inside they found Ms Black dying and McLeish covered in her blood in a bedroom.

The 46-year-old said in evidence at his trial that somebody had "done something" to her during the time that he had been out of the flat.

The jury did not believe McLeish's story and took just 60 minutes to find him guilty of Ms Black's murder.

Jailing him for life, Lord Bracadale told McLeish: "This was a prolonged, sustained and vicious attack on the woman you claimed to love."

Outside court, Ms Black's mother Linda said: "Justice has been seen to be done. Now my daughter can rest in peace."

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Jailed asylum fraudster deported

21 June 2011 Last updated at 14:03 GMT Mohammed Al-Sulaiti stole thousands of pounds from the public purse An overseas student jailed for two years for falsely claiming ?250,000 in benefits and funding has been deported.

Mohammed Al-Sulaiti, who worked and studied at Swansea University while claiming asylum in the UK, was jailed last November.

The UK Border Agency confirmed he was deported back to Qatar on 2 June.

The agency said it would do all it could to prosecute and remove people who "abuse their right to be here".

The father-of-six entered the UK on a student visa in 2005, later claiming asylum, and signing a declaration saying his family had no cash, savings, investments or property.

He was given asylum support which included housing in Swansea, payment of all utility bills and up to ?400 a week for his family.

However, UK Border Agency investigators discovered he had thousand of pounds in different bank accounts, as well as numerous business interests and financial investments.

Tuition fee payments

In May 2007 he began working illegally as a postgraduate research assistant at Swansea University's School of Medicine.

He provided false documents stating he had the right to work in the UK.

Al-Sulaiti also successfully applied for a bursary to pay for his tuition fees.

It is thought he fraudulently obtained financial support and accommodation worth ?210,000 from the UK Border Agency, ?33,000 in tuition fee payments from Swansea University and the Overseas Student Research Fund, as well as ?10,000 in illegally-obtained wages from the university.

Jane Farleigh, regional director of the UK Border Agency in Wales, said: "We will not accept foreign nationals like Al-Sulaiti breaking our laws.

Proceeds of crime

"He stole thousands of pounds from the public purse and people who commit serious offences of this nature should be deported at the earliest possible opportunity."

Al-Sulaiti was arrested in March 2010.

He admitted benefit fraud during a trial at Cardiff Crown Court in October 2010 and was jailed for two years the following month.

His asylum claim was turned down before the trial. His wife and children were removed to Qatar in April 2010.

The UK Border Agency said more than ?27,000 was recovered from Al-Sulaiti under proceeds of crime legislation before his deportation.

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Father jailed over baby methadone

15 June 2011 Last updated at 14:58 GMT Grant Yuill has been jailed for eight years A father found guilty of giving the drug methadone to his baby daughter in a bottle of milk has been jailed for eight years.

Grant Yuill, 38, of Porthmadog, Gwynedd, was also convicted of supplying drugs to the baby's mother.

Caernarfon Crown Court was told exposure to the drug had affected the child's development, and she has been taken into care.

Yuill was previously cleared of rubbing methadone into his daughter's gums.

He was told by Judge Merfyn Hughes QC: "This is a case of serious cruelty over a period of time."

Yuill was also found guilty of child cruelty and putting the baby's mother in fear of violence.

The judge told him he was the driving force behind what had happened to the baby, who became drug addicted, and had been lucky to survive.

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It will only be when she's approaching school age that the full impact of what you have done to her will become known”

End Quote Judge Merfyn Hughes On the baby's future Judge Hughes told him: "It will only be when she's approaching school age that the full impact of what you have done to her will become known."

After the hearing Gwynedd and Anglesey Local Safeguarding Children Board said a serious case review had been carried out.

A spokesman said: "We remain determined to establish whether there are lessons to be learned to improve inter-agency working to safeguard children and act upon recommendations made".

The prosecution had claimed that Yuill, 38, had told his partner Nia Jones, 31, that rubbing methadone into the baby's gums within hours of the birth was the only way to hide the fact she was taking methadone.

'Hash oil'

Jones, of Caernarfon, who is in jail for the ill-treatment of her daughter, told the court she used to take cannabis and dabbled with ecstasy.

She told the jury she became addicted to heroin after Yuill pretended it was "hash oil", but he rejected a claim that he tricked her into smoking heroin.

The court heard that the child was born in June 2009, and that after giving birth Jones told Yuill that she was worried because the baby was "burning up."

'Methadone was her drug of choice - it was likely the baby was born an addict'

Jones had told the court Yuill dabbed his finger twice into a bottle of methadone and rubbed it on the baby's gum.

When the baby went home, this method continued and methadone was mixed in her milk, she said.

The trial heard the couple had also tried to squirt methadone in the mouth using a syringe.

'Staff acted professionally'

The trial was told that it was almost seven months before the methadone supply came to light when staff at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, became suspicious of the mother and alerted police.

In his summing up, the judge told the jury that they might have found it "remarkable" that the situation was not spotted sooner.

But the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which runs the hospital, said it was "confident that staff acted professionally and appropriately in relation to this incident and it was their vigilance that ensured that the situation was brought to light and the relevant authorities alerted".

Jones told the trial that methadone was given to the baby in hospital, and she would wait at a bus stop for a blue teddy bear which Mr Yuill used to send on a bus from Porthmadog.

The teddy would have a bottle of methadone zipped in the mouth.

Gwynedd and Anglesey Local Safeguarding Children Board said the results of the serious case review would be published later.

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Baby sale slavery plotters jailed

27 May 2011 Last updated at 14:45 GMT A woman and a man have been jailed over a plot to sell an 11-month-old girl in north-east London.

The 29-year-old woman was jailed for seven years and the man, 48, was sentenced to nine years for conspiracy to commit child cruelty and holding another person in slavery.

The pair, of north-east London, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were jailed at Inner London Crown Court.

They were arrested after an undercover News of the World investigation.

Another man, 31, was cleared of the same charges.

Following the conviction Det Ch Supt Gordon Briggs, head of the Child Abuse Investigation Command at Scotland Yard, said: "This was an appalling case where individuals have attempted to sell a vulnerable child for their own personal gain and with no consideration whatsoever for her safety and future.

"We thank the News of the World for bringing this case to our attention and we are indebted to our partners in Newham Social Services who joined us in a fast-moving operation to recover the victim and remove her to safety."

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BA pilot jailed for killing wife

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:54 GMT A pilot who battered his estranged wife to death with a claw hammer and buried her body has been cleared of murder.

The body of wealthy Ascot guesthouse owner Joanna Brown, 46, originally from the Isle of Man, was found on the Queen's Windsor Estate in Berkshire.

British Airways captain Robert Brown, 47, was convicted of obstructing a coroner from holding an inquest.

Brown had already admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. He was jailed for 26 years.

The jury, at Reading Crown Court, returned its verdicts after nearly 15 hours of deliberation.

Pre-nuptial agreement

Sentencing Brown, Judge Mr Justice Cooke told him: "You intended to kill, you intended to conceal the body and to hide the evidence of the killing."

During the eight-day trial the court heard Brown had been consumed by anger during the course of his marriage, and a pre-nuptial agreement signed in 1999 had caused him "continuing resentment".

When his wife filed for divorce, it set in motion three years of protracted legal wrangling which was still continuing at the time he killed her.

The court had heard how on 31 October, last year, he drove to the former marital home, Tun Cottage in Ascot, to drop off their two children. He was armed with the claw hammer, jurors were told.

Police audio: Robert Brown rang police the day after he killed his wife

On arrival, and with the children out of sight, Brown hit his wife around the head with the hammer at least 14 times.

Jurors heard he then bundled the children into his car, wrapped his wife's body in plastic sheeting and dumped it in the boot before driving to woodland where he had already dug a hole and put down a makeshift coffin.

The couple's daughter later told police she heard her parents "hitting each other" before she watched "Dad put Mum in the car because he... hurt her".

Brown, of North Street, Winkfield, was arrested the following day after he contacted police.

Plastic crate

They had already been called to investigate the disappearance and discovered spots of blood on the drive and in the hallway of Mrs Brown's mock-Tudor mansion.

After confessing to the killing Brown led officers directly to the secluded burial site.

In the "robust plastic crate" - likened to those sold at DIY stores - investigators found Mrs Brown bound with a strap and garden ties.

On top of her body were rolls of tape, more garden ties, latex gloves, plastic footwear and two white paper overalls.

Brown had prepared the grave he used on the Queen's Windsor Estate before he killed his wife

An archaeologist told the court the grave could have been dug a "matter of weeks earlier", but Brown told police he had lowered the box into the earth as long ago as January 2009, as a symbolic gesture to bury the "sham" of his marriage.

Mrs Brown's body was found on its side inside the box. She had suffered extensive fractures to her skull and facial bones, along with a brain injury from which she would have had no hope of recovering, the court heard.

Brown said he killed his wife after an argument over schools.

He said he had been suffering from "severe stress" and an "abnormality of mental function" which substantially impaired his self-control.

Giving evidence Brown told the court he had "burst" with rage at his wife but could not remember how many times he hit her or explain why he attacked her.

He said: "I just lost it. I just burst and that's it. I just burst, and I can't remember.

"I just blew and the next thing I remember I was standing over Jo and there was blood all over the place."

Breaking down, he said to the public gallery: "I'm sorry darling, I'm really sorry."

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