Fresh appeal to find Liverpool Sunday League gangster's killer

Police are making a fresh appeal for information two years after Sunday League football manager with gangster links was shot to death. Nicky Ayers was shot at close range outside his mother-in-law's home in Liverpool on 29th April 2010. The 46 year-old was shot at least seven times outside the property on South Cantrill Avenue and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. At the crime scene forensic teams found at least six bullet-casings but despite the arrest of violent gangster James "Pancake" Taylor nobody has been charged with his murder. Mr Ayres was married with two daughters and two grandchildren and managed the Western Approaches Football Team in West Derby in the north of the city. But he was also connected to many of the city's top gangsters and his death allegedly triggered a turf war between rival gangs wanting control of cocaine and drug networks. Two years on Merseyside Police are appealing for anyone with fresh information about the murder of Nicky Ayers. The investigation has been complex and so far 17 people have been arrested in connection with the murder. A £20,000 reward has been offered that leads to the capture, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. At around the time of the shooting, a light-coloured, possibly silver car was seen leaving Snowberry Road into Princess Drive in the direction of Finch Lane. It did an immediate U-turn and drove back into Snowberry Road. Det Insp Rob Hill said: "We are still determined to catch the people responsible for this murder. "We are particularly keen for the person or people in this vehicle to come forward. "They may have seen something, no matter how small, which could help us with our inquiries. "We are also still keen to speak to anyone who may have seen a motorcycle being driven in the area around the time of the incident to come forward. "Community information is vital when investigating reports of this type and we need your help." He added: "Mr Ayers' family and friends still mourn his death as much today as they did when the news was first broken two years ago. "He left his wife Jackie, two daughters Lyndsay and Nicola, grandson Nicholas and granddaughter Ria Nicole - and they miss him greatly. "Two years on, people may have moved from the area or may be in a different situation from then and now feel in a position to talk to the police. "If this is you, I would urge you to come forward. You could provide vital answers which we want to give to Mr Ayers' family. "We are committed to finding those responsible." On what would have been his 48th birthday in September last year Merseyside Police detectives released information about the murder they think was a gangland execution. Ayers left his mother-n-law's house where he had spent the evening having dinner and watching Crimewatch at 9:30pm and went to meet a friend in the Meadow Lane area. The two men then visited a fish and chip shop and remained together until 11:30pm. Detectives believe Nicky Ayres may have been lured to his death when he mysteriously returned to his mother-in-law's house at 12:30am. After parking his green Landrover, Ayres was cornered and gunned down by his killer who then escaped. Notorious and ruthlessly violent mobster James "Pancake" Taylor, 30, was arrested a day after the killing but released after questioning on bail. Taylor is wanted by police for carrying out a kebab-shop machete attack on former boxer Lee Siner, 27, in October last year with Jennifer Ellison's ex-boyfriend Tony Richardson. Richardson was jailed for eight years in December but Taylor went on the run and is thought to be hiding in Amsterdam or Spain.

7 killed in drug gang shoot out

Seven people, including two members of the security forces and five people thought to be drug cartel members, have been killed in a shootout between rival gangs in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, according to The Associated Press. The gun battle broke out early today near the town of Choix, causing the Mexican army and local police to intervene, the news agency said, citing a state police spokesman. More from GlobalPost: Sinaloa: Mexico arrests 2 nephews of cartel leader Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada The spokesman said the area in the Sierra Madre is known to home to many drug traffickers. Nearly 50,000 people have died since President Felipe Calderón called in the military battle Mexico’s powerful and feared drug cartels in 2006. The Guadalajara Reporter said yesterday that Sinaloa police were warning drivers on the Carretera Internacional Mexico 15, a highway, of increasingly frequent robberies and carjackings.

B.C. gangster survives explosion only to be gunned down in Mexico

A high-ranking gangster from B.C. was gunned down in Mexico late Friday night. Lower Mainland resident Thomas Gisby, said by RCMP to be about 50 years old, was shot to death inside a Starbucks in the tourist town of Nuevo Vallarta. Gisby is believed to be linked to Metro Vancouver’s notorious Dhak group, who alongside the Duhre gang have been the subject of retaliatory hits since last summer’s well-publicized Kelowna murder of Red Scorpion Jonathon Bacon. Hells Angel associate Larry Amero was also wounded in the daylight shooting. RCMP Chief Supt. Dan Malo, the head of the RCMP’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said Mexican officials informed local police of Gisby’s murder at 9 p.m. Friday night. “It’s very unusual we speak this quickly, but its important given the heightened situation of gang violence that we’ve seen in British Columbia of late,” said Malo at an impromptu news conference in Surrey Saturday evening. “These organized crime targets have no boundaries and the police are going to be paying particular attention to this group here in the foreseeable future to see what impact [the murder] has.” According to the Mexican newspaper Vanguardia, Gisby was shot twice in the head by waiting assassins, who fled in a gold-coloured VW Jetta. Two .44mm shell casings were found at the scene and one suspect is in custody. There is no indication if the suspect is a Canadian. Gisby had been living in Mexico since he was targeted in a motorhome explosion near Whistler last winter, according to a Province source. The motorhome was sitting in a parking lot off Highway 99 in the Callaghan Valley when an explosive device was attached to the vehicle. Malo could only confirm Gisby was linked to the Whistler attack, in which he suffered superficial burns. RCMP liaison officers will be speaking to Mexican authorities in the coming days to flesh out the details surrounding the slaying. Canada’s department of foreign affairs is also investigating the murder. Malo said in his 28 years working for the RCMP, he has never seen police forces on this side of the border come together to tackle the escalating gang violence. The RCMP’s CFSEU consists of 14 B.C. police departments. “We knew that that individual was down in Mexico, we are spending a tremendous amount of police resources right now dealing with the issues of gang violence and the spike we’ve seen of late ... we are aware, we have intelligence to suggest there has been and will be retaliatory action.” A similar warning of was issued by police in fall 2011 when Gang Task force Supt. Tom McCluskie who said “anybody associated with the Duhre or Dhak group is subject to retaliation or to violence from other gangs they’re in conflict with.” It is believed the Dhak’s and Duhre’s are involved in a turf war with elements of the now-defunct Red Scorpions gang, the Independent Soldiers and some Hells Angels associates. That warning came to realization in January 2012 when notorious Vancouver gangster Sandip “Dip” Duhre, 36, was killed in a hail of bullets at a busy restaurant in downtown’s Sheraton Wall Centre. Malo also warns B.C.’s youth and lower level gangsters that no organized criminal is untouchable, even outside of the country. “It’s somebody who thought obviously he was untouched and thought he was at a level of organized crime that he thought he was protected — clearly not the case,” he said. “It shows as well that no matter where you are in the world, if you’re involved in that level of organized crime and that level of gang conflict, those gangs have the abilities and have the resources to get to you wherever you happen to be.” Malo said high-ranking B.C. gangsters have influence internationally to bring in illegal drugs and guns into the country, and are risking their lives to do so on foreign soil. Gisby had largely avoided the law in his years in B.C, according to court records. A man named Thomas Gisby appeared in court in January 1999 regarding a 1998 offence in which he was charged with invoking fear of injury and damage to a property in White Rock. He was released after issuing a peace bond. Another prominent member of the United Nations gang was also killed in Mexico earlier this year in Culiacán, Mexico — the home of the Sinaloa. The Dhak group first appeared on police radar in 1998 following the nightclub hit of glamorized gangster Bindy Johal. In October 2010, Gurmit Singh Dhak was unable to escape a second attempt on his life and was shot in the face in a hit police deemed “very targeted.” His younger brother Sukhveer Dhak was in Kelowna around the same time last year Bacon was killed, according to court records.

Indicted in multistate, murder-for-hire drug trafficking case

Columbia man and two Hopkins men are among seven charged in a five-count federal indictment in a drug-trafficking and murder-for-hire case stretching from South Carolina to Texas. Robert Corley, 23, of Columbia was arrested Wednesday and appeared in a Columbia courtroom Thursday, following which the US Attorney’s Office in Houston unsealed its indictment. In 15 pages, available at the end of this story, the indictment details charges against Corley and six other men: • Kevin “KC” Corley, age not given, of Colorado Springs, • Samuel Walker, of Colorado Springs, • Calvin “Beef” Epps, 26, of Hopkins, • Marcus “Junior” Mickle, 20, of Hopkins, • Shavar Davis, 29, of Denver, and • Mario Corley, 40, of Saginaw, Texas. Kevin and Mario Corley, Walker, Epps, Mickle and Davis were arrested March 24 in Texas and South Carolina. Mario Corley’s arrest in South Carolina was for a related criminal charge. According to the indictment, all the men except Robert Corley conspired between Jan. 7 and March 24 to accept $50,000 in cash and 5 kilos of cocaine in return for a murder at the behest of los Zetas Mexican drug cartel. The investigation began a year earlier, in January 2011, when Mickle is accused in the indictment of discussing the purchase of marijuana with undercover agents he thought were los Zetas members. He and Epps eventually met with agents and proposed taking 500 pounds of pot from them in return for a down payment of stolen firearms. They are accused of telling the agents they would sell the pot in Columbia. The indictment accuses the men of going to Laredo in on Sept. 14, 2011, to continue discussions with the agents posing as los Zetas members, including settling on a price of $350 per pound. The agents accuse the men of proposing using the proceeds of the sale of pot in Columbia to obtain handguns, rifles, fully-automatic rifles and grenades. Mickle and Epps are accused of introducing the undercover agents to Kevin Corley, whom they represented as an active duty US Army officer willing to train cartel members in approaches, room clearing, security and convoy security; and purchase military weapons for them with the serial numbers removed. In December, the indictment says, Corley mailed his “cartel” contacts a US Army Battle Book and discussed his willingness to raid a Laredo ranch for them to steal 20 kilos of cocaine and perform “wet work,” meaning a contract killing. On Jan. 7, Kevin Corley is accused of meeting with the undercover agents he thought were drug cartel members and sold them bullet-proof vests, Army manuals and unspecified other items. He also is accused of settling on a contract-killing fee of $50,000 and 5 kilos of cocaine, the indictment says. Finally, he brokered a deal in which Mickle and Epps would buy 500 pounds of pot for the Columbia market, for which he would provide security during transport. A week later, the three men and Jerome Corley are accused of traveling to Laredo to pick up their pot with a tractor trailer. They met their “cartel” contacts at a truck stop, then moved to a parking lot where the drugs were stowed in a box truck. The four men then escorted the truck north on Interstate 35 in a separate vehicle, but the truck was intercepted in La Salle County, Texas. The driver was arrested and the payload seized. The indictment says Kevin Corley called his cartel contact to let him know. Despite that setback, the indictment accuses Kevin Corley of continuing to talk with the “cartel” members about future business, including making an arrangements to move 300 pounds of pot to Mario Corley in Charleston, and brokering the sale of another 500 pounds and 5 kilos of cocaine for Mickle and Epps. The indictment accuses Kevin Corley of meeting with undercover agents March 5 in Colorado Springs, Colo., where, for $10,000, he gave them two AR-15 (M-4) rifles with scopes, an airsoft assault training rifle, five bullet-proof vests alleged to be stolen and other unspecified equipment. At this time, the indictment says, he continued discussions about the Laredo ranch raid. He told them, allegedly, that he had even acquired a new Ka-Bar knife to carve a los Zetas trademark “Z” in the victim’s chest. The indictment says Kevin Corley, Walker, Jerome Corley and Davis traveled to Laredo on March 24. Around 12:35 p.m., they met with the “cartel” members again to finalize plans for the ranch raid. They were arrested at that time and several weapons were seized from their vehicle, including two semi-automatic rifles with scopes, a bolt-action rifle with a scope and bipod, a hatchet, a knife and ammunition. On the same day in a Columbia motel parking lot, undercover agents met with Epps and Mickle to discuss the purchase of 5 kilos of cocaine and 500 pounds of marijuana. The indictment accuses Mickle of saying he did not have the money and that the “cartel” members would need to get it directly from his buyer out of the country. The agents then asked Epps and Mickle to come inside the motel to meet their boss. At that point they were arrested. Undercover agents also met with Mario Corley in Summerville in a restaurant off Interstate 26. The indictment says Mario Corley arrived in a white van with Robert Corley, who is accused of telling the agents he was there to test the quality of the drugs. All seven men are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. All except Robert Corley are also charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking or violent crime and conspiracy to use a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking or violent crime. Mario and Robert Corley are expected to be moved to Texas in the near future, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Texas.

Shooting a 'warning' from rival bikie gang

SIMMERING tension between rival bikie gangs exploded on the Gold Coast yesterday with the drive-by shooting of a tattoo parlour in the heart of Bandidos territory. Police fear the attack could be a push for territory by the Hells Angels as the outlaw gang seeks a toehold on the lucrative Glitter Strip. Less than 24 hours after police commissioner Bob Atkinson told the Bulletin that bikie gangs were "one of the greatest challenges to face law enforcement", the Bandido-protected Mermaid Beach tattoo shop was hit by at least four shots in the early hours of yesterday morning.  High-ranking police yesterday said it was "inevitable" that the violence that has plagued Sydney would eventually spill across the border. "We do not believe it is directly connected to the war between the Hells Angels and the Nomads that has been unfolding in New South Wales," said police. "But it is a similar style of attack. "We know the Hells Angels have been pushing to establish a chapter on the Gold Coast -- that push is coming from Sydney. "Tradelink Drive is not their most profitable chapter." While detectives have attempted to play down the shooting, police say there is "no doubt" it was intended as a warning. The Bandidos are the largest and one of the most secretive bikie gangs on the Gold Coast. The club has gained strength as its main rival -- the Finks -- have been severely weakened with so many senior members behind bars and Bandido territory stretches south from Broadbeach. Police said last month's Hells Angels National Run was intended as a direct message to all gangs on the Gold Coast. More than 200 patched gang members descended on Surfers Paradise for the run. "These clubs are so well organised, they do nothing without a reason," police said. "You can bet they had some purpose in coming to the Gold Coast. "They taunted the Finks and nothing happened, now the Bandidos tattoo shop is shot up in the same way the gym controlled by the Hells Angels was hit a few months ago. "You join the dots." The shop is owned by a senior member of the outlaw gang who has been a patched member of the Bandidos "for years", police say. In an exclusive interview with the Bulletin, Mr Atkinson said the danger of bikie gangs was "under-rated" by the community. "The outlaw motorcycle gangs nationally present one of the greatest challenges to police. "I think the degree of that challenge and the risk they present to our society is underrated." The Gold Coast has one of the highest populations of bikie gangs in the country. Mr Atkinson said he would not be surprised if the Hells Angels were not considering a move closer to the Glitter Strip. "They are businesses, they look for opportunity so that wouldn't be a surprise," he said. "They market themselves as a group of mature men who have a love and interest in motorbikes and they do that very cleverly. The reality is they are highly sophisticated, well organised criminal enterprises that pose a genuine risk to the community and many are well represented by the finest and best lawyers who they retain to represent them." South East Region Assistant Commissioner Graham Rynders said the gangs were constantly looking to expand. "One of things about OMCGs is they look for opportunity for criminal enterprise," Mr Rynders said. "Throughout Queensland, throughout the country, probably throughout the world they are looking to expand. It is obviously dictated to by territory, depending on who or what other groups exist in what areas."

Jury hears grisly details about murder scene

Police discovered a grisly scene on Sept. 10, 2000, when they entered a Cogmagun Road home in Hants County. “It was a very brutal scene,” Cpl. Shawn Sweeney, who was a constable with the Windsor rural RCMP detachment that day, testified Tuesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Kentville. It was the second day of trial for Leslie Douglas Greenwood, 42, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Barry Kirk Mersereau, 48, and his wife, Nancy Paula Christensen, 47. Sweeney, a Crown witness, testified that he and four other police officers who responded to a 911 call found Christensen sitting upright in a chair in the living room of her Centre Burlington home with a bullet wound in her left cheek, under her glasses. She had a cup of tea in her hand and a small dog was sitting in her lap. There were several bullet casings and lead fragments scattered on the floor. Mersereau was lying face down, with pools of blood around his head and body. Another dog, believed to be a German shepherd-Rottweiler mix, was hiding under covers on the bed in the master bedroom. A third dog was tied to the front porch and another had run off into the woods. Sweeney told Chief Justice Joseph Kennedy and the seven-woman, five-man jury hearing the case that the house appeared to be neat and orderly, with no signs of struggle. “It didn’t appear to be a house that was rifled through or things thrown around,” Sweeney testified. Const. Glenn Bonvie told the court it was immediately obvious that Mersereau and Christensen were dead. “There was no movement. There was no doubt that they were deceased.” Crown witness Ronald Connors owned a hunting cabin in the woods about half a kilometre away from the couple’s house. He testifed that he heard several shots at about 8:15 p.m. on Sept. 9. Connors said he heard six shots fired in quick succession, followed by a pause and a couple more shots. Moments later, there were more shots. He said he thought at first someone might be jacking deer, but Connors concluded that the shots didn’t sound like those from a high-powered hunting rifle. The jury was shown a video of the two bodies as they were found. Former RCMP officer David Clace, then in charge of the RCMP’s forensics identification unit in New Minas, said a large amount of money was found in plastic bags in a gym bag in one of the bedroom closets. The bag was later determined to contain about $65,000 in cash. Crown attorney Peter Craig has told the court that the victims were shot to death in their home in an execution-style killing as part of a Hells Angels-ordered killing. “They were killed in their home in a quiet community, with a teapot on the stove, with no signs of struggle and their baby in the next room,” Craig told the jury. He said evidence presented by as many as 40 Crown witnesses will show that Michael Lawrence and Greenwood murdered the couple on the orders of Jeffrey Lynds, a former Hells Angels operative who died recently in a Montreal jail of an apparent suicide. Lawrence, who owed Lynds money, pleaded guilty last January to three charges of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Also killed that day, by Lawrence, was Charles Maddison, an innocent man who picked Lawrence up hitchhiking. Lawrence shot him to take his truck to commit a planned robbery. Craig said Lawrence, expected to be a crucial Crown witness, will testify that he and Greenwood shot the couple, one with a .357 Magnum, the other with a 32-calibre handgun, in what he called “planned and deliberate” killings. The couple’s 18-month-old baby boy was safely recovered from the house by neighbour Ruby McKenzie, who went to the victim’s home the day after the shootings. McKenzie said she brought the baby back to her mobile home and called police. Greenwood sat quietly during the proceedings, occasionally exchanging comments with his lawyer, Alain Begin. Begin is expected to argue that Greenwood went to the Mersereau house the day of the shootings to buy drugs, and that Lawrence shot the couple while Greenwood was waiting outside. Also charged with first-degree murder in the killings is Curtis Blair Lynds, 36, who is serving time in a federal prison for drug trafficking. A preliminary inquiry in his case is scheduled to begin July 16.

Gang violence erupts again in Hyde Park

The man who wound up fatally wounded outside a Hyde Park supermarket had connections to Mission Hill's violent Heath Street gang, according to sources. It's the second time in seven months violence linked to gangs in other neighborhoods has hit Hyde Park. Last September, an alleged associate of Roxbury's H Block gang was unloading groceries outside his girlfriend's Readville apartment when he was shot repeatedly. Prosecutors at the time said the shooting was part of a feud between H Block and a gang based at Roxbury's Orchard Park project. Wednesday's victim, 20 but otherwise not yet identified by police, was not shot outside the Price Rite supermarket on River Street, near the Mattapan line. A source says he was a bit further down River, between Rosa Street and Reddy Avenue when shot. He then ran toward the Price Rite, where a Boston Police officer on detail called for an ambulance. The store overlooks Wood Avenue, home of Hyde Park's own violent gang.

Former gangster used his wife as honeytrap in Mumbai murders

The probe into two separate instances of murder of citizens from Delhi has revealed that former gangster and prime accused Vijay Palande used his model wife Simran Sood as a 'honeytrap' to commit the crimes for usurping properties of the victims, police said. "It has now emerged that Simran Sood is not Vijay Palande's friend but his wife. Both married in year 1998 or 1999. After the marriage, Palande was involved in a crime and was behind bars for a few years. After he was freed, he started using his wife to trap victims for money and property," said a crime branch official.

Former gangster used his wife as honeytrap in Mumbai murders

The probe into two separate instances of murder of citizens from Delhi has revealed that former gangster and prime accused Vijay Palande used his model wife Simran Sood as a 'honeytrap' to commit the crimes for usurping properties of the victims, police said. "It has now emerged that Simran Sood is not Vijay Palande's friend but his wife. Both married in year 1998 or 1999. After the marriage, Palande was involved in a crime and was behind bars for a few years. After he was freed, he started using his wife to trap victims for money and property," said a crime branch official.

Gangster, brother turn themselves in to police

A Prince George gangster who was ordered deported to South Africa more than four years ago has turned himself in to police on charges of kidnapping and assault. Prince George RCMP said Wednesday Francois (Frankie) Meerholz, 24, who they say is linked to the Game Tight Soldiers and Renegades biker gangs, and his brother Dillan Meerholz, 22, turned themselves in late Tuesday. Responding to a report of a kidnapping, Mounties went to a rural area east of Prince George Sunday where they found a man suffering from serious but non-life-threatening injuries. It is believed the victim was held for several days in a house in the area. A 32-year-old suspect was arrested at the house, and a small marijuana-growing operation was found inside. A second suspect, a 35-year-old man, was arrested Monday. Before the Meerholz brothers turned themselves in, the Mounties had said they were also suspects.

The indictment said three gangs called the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws were forcing teenage girls into prostitution

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Bare Naked Islam

Over two dozen Somali Muslims, including women, were indicted for kidnapping, raping and selling underage girls.
It’s the largest human trafficking case in US history.

Cleveland.com reported:

A federal trial involving more than a dozen defendants accused in a sex trafficking ring run by Somali gangs is being complicated by cultural issues within the Somali refugee communities in Tennessee and Minnesota.

U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes again this week ordered jurors to return on Monday as defense attorneys argued that the defendants, many of whom are refugees from Somalia, were juveniles at the time the alleged crimes occurred.

The indictment said three gangs called the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws were forcing teenage girls into prostitution and operated in St. Paul, Minn.; Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; and Nashville.

After selecting a jury last month, the trial was delayed last week when prosecutors turned over thousands of documents and audio recordings from the investigation to defense attorneys on the eve of trial. Both defense attorneys and federal prosecutors have repeatedly declined to comment about the case.

“It can be frustrating to have delays, but it is understandable because the case is so complex,” said Derri Smith, executive director of End Slavery Tennessee, who will be an expert witness in the case. “I have the utmost confidence that the judge and jury will bring justice about in the case, but it’s challenging for all of them.”

The indictment, which was originally unsealed in 2010 and amended by a superseding indictment in 2011, says the defendants, many of them from the Somali immigrant communities in Minneapolis and Nashville, were members or associates of the three gangs. Four unidentified victims, some of who were under the age of 14, are listed in the indictment.

The indictment accuses the gangs of finding and recruiting young girls for the purpose of prostitution in exchange for money and drugs between 2000 and 2010.

Out of the 30 individuals listed in the indictment, only 14 are going to trial this month in Nashville on charges of conspiracy to commit sexual trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion and charges related to the sexual trafficking. Many of the individuals have remained in federal custody since their arrests in 2010.

Police in downtown Los Angelese are fighting crime by predicting offences - before they have even happened.

Unlike the usual method of responding to 911 calls, cops use computers which show them 'red spots' where an incident is most likely to occur.

They are then deployed onto the streets in a bid to deter thugs, burglers and gangsters from going on their next crime spree.

Technical: LAPD cops study an enormous computer screen showing 'red spots' where the next crime is most likely to committed

 

The 'predictive policing' system pulls together crime statistics and pinpoints the areas where most offences are being carried out. Police are then sent to patrol those streets

The programme has some similarities with the hit science fiction film Minority Report.  The movie is set in 2054 and a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes.

However, unlike LAPD's system who use computer data, those in Minority Report employ special psychics called 'precogs'.

Tom Cruise plays 'PreCrime' captain John Anderton but the system eventually predicts that he will commit a future murder and he has to take flight.

 

 

Such disturbing situations are unlikely to happen with LAPD's system, which uses crime statistics - and not premonitions - to pinpoint the next likely incident.

The system has been trialled in the Foothill division of downtown LA since November and could be rolled out to other areas if it is successful

The 'predictive policing' system being used in the Foothill Division of downtown LA has been developed from the same kind of mathematical calculations used to predict earthquakes and aftershocks.

It analyses the times, dates, and places of recent crimes such as burglaries, break-ins, and car thefts. It also looks at the frequency of offences and predicts how many are likely to be carried out if the trend continues.

If a spate of crimes have happened in one area, or a crook appears to be moving across the region, this is flagged up the software. The data is then aggregated and 'hot spots' are formed.

Capt. Sean Malinowski says the system is able to put police on the streets before crimes have happened.

Futuristic: Tom Cruise, left, as John Anderton in the science fiction hit Minority Report, which uses psychic 'precogs' to predict future crimes

Complex: Anderton uses his special powers to predict crime to map future offenders on a giant computer screen. The premonitions backfired when he was himself accused of a future murder

'Sixty-five percent of our crimes are burglary, grand theft auto and burglary from a motor vehicle. And that's what these boxes represent,' he told CBS.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said the main goal was to prevent crime. Since the system was introduced burglaries are down 33 per cent and violent crime is also down 21 per cent.

Police Chf Beck said: 'I love catching people - it's what I live for - but what I'd rather do is live in a place and work in a place where crime didn't happen.

'Everybody thinks they do their profession as well as it can be done and so they don't need any help. If this old street cop can change the way that he thinks about these things, then I know my kids can do the same.'

He added that the system helps police to use their officers more effectively. It has been tested in the Foothill Division since last November and if it is found to be successful it could be roled out across more divisions in LA.

British terror supergrass sentence cut by two years

jailed British terrorist has had his sentence cut by two years in a supergrass deal after giving evidence about an al Qaeda-linked “martyrdom” plot in New York, it was revealed today. Former teacher Saajid Badat was jailed for 13 years in 2005 for plotting with shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a transatlantic airliner in 2001 in what an Old Bailey judge said was a “wicked and inhuman” plot. He has now had his term reduced by two years under the first “supergrass” deal involving a terror convict, after providing intelligence to US prosecutors investigating an alleged plot to blow up the New York subway on the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attack. Details of the deal — kept secret for more than two years — were revealed today by the Crown Prosecution Service as a trial of the alleged al Qaeda plotters began in New York. Defendant Adis Medanjanin, a 27-year-old Bosnian-born US citizen, is charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing “material support” to al Qaeda. He is said to have had terrorist training in Pakistan in 2008 and then returned to begin a plot to use beauty parlour chemicals to blow up the subway. Badat, from Gloucester, joined Reid’s shoe bomb conspiracy but pulled out at the last minute.

Western embassies targeted in Afghanistan attacks

 

Gunmen have launched multiple attacks across the Afghan capital Kabul. Western embassies in the heavily-guarded, central diplomatic area are understood to be among the targets as well as the parliament building in the west. There are reports that up to seven different locations have been hit. The Taliban has admitted responsibility, saying their main targets were the British and German embassies. There is no word at this stage on any casualties.

Taliban free hundreds from Pakistan prison

Hundreds of prisoners are believed to have escaped from a jail in northwest Pakistan after it was attacked by anti-government fighters armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Some of those who escaped from the facility in the town of Bannu, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, early on Sunday morning were "militants", an intelligence official told the Reuters news agency. "Dozens of militants attacked Bannu's Central Jail in the early hours of the morning, and more 300 prisoners have escaped," Mir Sahib Jan, the official, said. In Depth   Profile: Pakistani Taliban "There was intense gunfire, and rocket-propelled grenades were also used." Many of those who escaped following the raid were convicted Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters, Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder reported from Lahore. A prison official in Bannu confirmed that "384 prisoners have escaped". A police official identified one of the inmates who escaped as a "dangerous prisoner", who took part in one of the attempts to kill the former president, Pervez Musharraf. The TTP, an umbrella organisation for anti-government groups that are loosely allied with the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda, took responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for Hakeemullah Mehsud, TTP's leader, confirmed to Al Jazeera that the group was responsible for the attack. Another Taliban spokesman told Reuters: "We have freed hundreds of our comrades in Bannu in this attack. Several of our people have reached their destinations, others are on their way.".   Our correspondent said the attack took place in the early morning and had resulted in an exchange of fire that had left several people wounded. "After the attack the paramilitary and regular military forces came to that location and tried to surround the area," he said. "They have arrested up to a dozen men, but most of the people have indeed escaped." The injured were rushed to a local hospital in Bannu. Sources told Al Jazeera that as many as 150 fighters were involved in the attack. After blowing up the gates of the main prison at around 1:30am local time (20:30 GMT on Saturday), they entered the compound and freed the inmates, the sources said. The attackers had arranged for the transportation of the inmates from the facility. A police official told Reuters that Bannu's Central Jail held 944 prisoners in total, and that six cell blocks had been targeted in the attack.

Alaska coast guards found dead at Kodiak Island

 

Two members of the US Coast Guard in Alaska have been found dead, prompting concerns that a killer could have struck at a remote island outpost. A captain at the Kodiak Island Station said they were unsure what happened and a suspect could still be at large. The base and schools in the area were put on lockdown and residents of the island were told to remain vigilant. The names of the victims will be released after their families have been notified, the coast guard said. "It is possible that the suspect remains at large," Commanding Officer Captain Jesse Moore said. "Since we don't have all the details, we strongly advise all Kodiak residents to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement officials." The captain also said the unit was "deeply saddened" to have lost two shipmates. Officials were unable to determine whether the deaths were a double murder or a murder-suicide. "This is a rare occurrence and we are going to do everything possible to ensure we find out exactly what happened," he said. Agents from the FBI have been sent to Kodiak from the town of Anchorage, about 250 miles (402km) away. Kodiak has a population of about 6,300 people.

An Albanian fugitive accused of multiple murders in his home country has been arrested in north London after 15 years on the run.

Ndrieim Sadushi, 41, was last night picked up on an international warrant by police outside his home in Southgate.

An Albanian court found him guilty in his absence of three killings and an attempted murder in the eastern European country in 1997.

At an extradition hearing in Westminster Magistrates' Court today, Sadushi claimed he had been the victim of mistaken identity and was in fact 31-year-old Arjan Kasa.

 

But district Judge Michael Snow ruled police had got the right man after being told his fingerprints matched those of the convicted killer.

Sadushi, who is said to have used at least six aliases while evading the authorities, will face a life sentence if he is sent back to his homeland.

 His barrister Richard Hallam stands by the claim that his client is Arjan Kasa.

Prosecutor James Stansfeld said that, in addition to being wanted by the Albanian police, authorities in Italy accuse Sadushi of drug trafficking, passport fraud and controlling prostitutes.

Italian courts sentenced him to 13 years and four months in his absence.

He has been linked to the notorious Kadeshi armed gang, of which all the other leaders have been arrested.

Sadushi is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court today

Hannah Pye, representing the Albanian authorities, said: 'The request for extradition comes from Albania, after he was handed a custodial sentence, following a conviction for five offences.'

‘Those were, the creation and participation in an armed gang, three counts of murder and one attempted murder.

‘For that he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and an appeal against the sentence was upheld by the Albanian appeal court in 2000.’

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s extradition unit arrested Sadushi outside a property in High Road, Southgate.

The UK Border Agency holds no record of him claiming asylum and he is thought to have entered Britain on the back of a truck in 2000. 

Last year he was one of 14 suspects to have their mugshots released as part of Operation Sunfire, a coordinated effort to bring some of the UK's most wanted fugitives before extradition courts.

Twelve of the suspected murderers, rapists and robbers pictured were from eastern Europe, while the other two were wanted in connection with crimes in Italy and Australia.

Sadushi will return to court on April 25.

Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll's driver tells murder trial of Asda shooting

A man who was driving the car in which Glasgow gangster Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll was shot has told his murder trial how he escaped from the gunmen. John Bonner described how he clambered out of the passenger side of the black Audi as masked men ran towards him. He said he fell to the ground, heard about three gun shots and ran away. Ross Monaghan, 30, denies murdering Mr Carroll at the Asda car park in Robroyston, Glasgow, in January 2010. The trial at the High Court in Glasgow has also been hearing evidence from the duty manager of the supermarket who witnessed the shooting and made a 999 call shortly afterwards. Mr Carroll's driver, Mr Bonner, 25, told the court he had picked up the 29-year-old and driven him to Asda in Robroyston. He said that a Volkswagen Golf pulled up in front of them and he saw two men in masks getting out. He said: "I tried to get out of the motor as fast as I could. Something wasn't right. I fell out of the motor. I was scared. "I just heard the bangs and I was on the ground." Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Mr Carroll was a major Glasgow criminal in all sorts of criminality including a major player in the drugs trade, are you the only person in the building who doesn't know that?” Derek Ogg Defence QC Mr Bonner said he then ran away and hid behind another vehicle until he heard the car "screeching away". He said that, when he returned to the car, he found Mr Carroll dead in the back seat with the door locked. The witness said he had the car keys in his hand as he jumped from the vehicle and must have accidentally locked it as he fell on the ground - locking Mr Carroll inside the car. Mr Bonner said he subsequently dropped the keys and "someone" had returned them to him but he did not know who. Mr Bonner said he was "gutted" when he realised that Mr Carroll had died. He also said that he didn't know what line of business Mr Carroll was in. Defence QC Derek Ogg said: "Mr Carroll was a major Glasgow criminal in all sorts of criminality including a major player in the drugs trade, are you the only person in the building who doesn't know that?" Mr Bonner replied: "Must be." The witness told the court that he had been shot 10 months earlier while sitting in the driver's seat of a VW Golf that Mr Carroll had bought for him and said police told him it was a case of mistaken identity. He was then asked by Mr Ogg if he hadn't thought of taking up a safer occupation than hanging about with Mr Carroll "like abseiling or hang gliding". Asda manager Steven McKenna, 46, told the trial the shooting happened about an hour after he came on duty. He told advocate depute Iain McSporran, prosecuting, that his attention was drawn by the sound of a bang and when he looked out his office window he saw that a black Audi parked in one of the bays had been blocked in by VW Golf. Mr McKenna told the jury: "The parked car had two males moving away at a pace, they were running. Two males from the other car were firing." 999 call The jury heard that after the gunmen drove off the supermarket manager walked into the car park while on the phone to the emergency operator. He added: "The passenger window of the car was almost obliterated. There was a hole the size of a football in the centre of it. "I saw there was an adult male lying on the back seat. There was nothing I could do for him." The jury was played the 999 tape in which a clearly distressed Mr McKenna is heard saying in reply to what's the emergency: "Shots fired in our car park." He is then asked what sort of guns and replies: "Hand guns. We have one down in the back of the car." Mr McKenna then approaches the two men he saw running from the Audi - Steven McLaggan and John Bonner - and they tell them the dead man is Kevin Carroll. He is then heard being swore at as he asked what his date of birth is. The 999 operator says just ask and Mr McKenna tells him: "I'm not going to have a conversation with them." False plates Mr McKenna said that he and his staff then spent time trying to calm down upset shoppers, some of whom had seen the incident. It is alleged that while masked and acting with others, Mr Monaghan murdered Mr Carroll by repeatedly discharging loaded handguns at him, shooting him on the head and body. Mr Monaghan is also accused, while acting with others, of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of a revolver, pistol and ammunition within undergrowth in Coatbridge and Airdrie, both North Lanarkshire. It is also claimed a car - bearing false number plates YF55 EZZ - was set on fire. Mr Monaghan also faces a number of firearms charges. He denies all the charges against him and has lodged a special defence of incrimination, blaming William Paterson and seven others. The trial, before judge Lord Brailsford, continues.

BRIT Government 'planning new Internet snooping laws'

The British government wants to expand its powers to monitor email exchanges and website visits, The Sunday Times reported. Internet companies would be instructed to install hardware to allow the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to go through "on demand" every text message and email sent, websites accessed and phone calls made "in real time, the paper said. The plans are expected to be unveiled next month. The Home Office said ministers were preparing to legislate "as soon as parliamentary time allows" but said the data to be monitored would not include content. "It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public," a spokesman said. "We need to take action to maintain the continued availability of communications data as technology changes. "Communications data includes time, duration and dialling numbers of a phone call, or an email address. "It does not include the content of any phone call or email and it is not the intention of government to make changes to the existing legal basis for the interception of communications." An attempt to bring in similar measures was abandoned by the Labour government in 2006 amid strong opposition. However, ministers in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government believe it is essential that the police and security services have access to such communications data in order to tackle terrorism and protect the public. The plans would not allow GCHQ to access the content of communications without a warrant. However, they would enable the agency to trace whom a group or individual had contacted, how often and for how long, the report said.

Eight people from 'Holy Death' cult arrested in Mexico over ritual sacrifices of woman and two 10-year-old boys

Eight people have been arrested in northern Mexico have over the killing of two 10-year-old boys and a woman in what appears to be ritual sacrifices. Prosecutors in Sonora, in the north-west of the country have accused the suspects of belonging to the La Santa Muerte (Holy Death) cult. The victims' blood has been poured round an altar to the idol, which is portrayed as a skeleton holding a scythe and clothed in flowing robes. The cult, which celebrates death, has been growing rapidly in Mexico in the last 20 years, and now has up to two million followers. Jose Larrinaga, spokesman for Sonora state prosecutors, said the most recent killing was earlier this month, while the other two were committed in 2009 and 2010. Their bodies were found at the altar site in the small mining community of Nacozari, 70 miles south of Douglas, Arizona. Investigations were launched after the family of 10-year-old Jesus Octavio Martinez Yanez reported him missing early this month.

Gang dispute sparked funeral home shooting that left 2 dead, 12 injured

 

Dispute among gang members at a North Miami-area funeral home sparked a mass shooting that injured 12 people and killed two men, according to Miami-Dade police and law enforcement. The gunmen, who fired a barrage of bullets at a crowd of mourners Friday night, remained on the loose. Investigators have not released information about the shooters, only that a white car may have been involved. One of the victims, a 43-year-old man, died outside the Funeraria Latina Emanuel funeral home, authorities said. The other, a 27-year-old man, died at the hospital. Witnesses at the funeral home had said one of the two people killed was shot in the chest. Among the wounded was a 5-year-old girl who was shot in the leg. She is hospitalized at Jackson Memorial Hospital and is listed in stable condition. The funeral was for Morvin Andre, 21, of North Miami, who was buried Saturday morning at Southern Memorial Park next to the funeral home. Andre was killed March 16 after he tried to jump 22-and-a-half feet from the fourth floor of the Aventura Mall parking garage to escape pursuit from Bloomingdale’s loss prevention employees. Andre landed on his feet, but then fell back and hit his head, according Aventura Police Major Skip Washa, a spokesman. Washa said Saturday the county medical examiner’s office has ruled Andre’s death a suicide because the Bloomingdale’s employees were one floor below Andre when they told him to stop. Instead, he jumped. Originally, it was reported that Andre, a nursing student at Broward Community College, had been killed in a shooting, according to mourners at the funeral home. A law enforcement official told the Miami Herald that the shooting involved members of several South Florida gangs who were in attendance at his wake Friday night to pay their respects. Andre was not part of a gang himself, the official said. Certain gang members took offense when someone touched Andre’s body in the casket, setting off an argument that spilled out into the street. Members of one gang retrieved an assault rifle and a handgun from a car and opened fire at other gang members in front of the funeral home, a police commander told Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS 4. Shooting erupted as more than 100 people were gathered outside the funeral home, in the 14900 block of West Dixie Highway, outside the city limits of North Miami. “I was on my way out of the chapel when I heard the shots,“ said A.D. Lenoir, the pastor who officiated at the service. “I told people to look for cover. It was chaos.” Lenoir, 29, said people were screaming, crying and yelling. Several victims were taken to Jackson, and others to local hospitals. The West Dixie Highway corridor has been the scene of several shootings in recent years. In 2007, the owner of a martial arts studio was fatally gunned down in a drive-by.

Kansas man struck by lightning hours after buying lottery tickets

A Kansas man was struck by lightning hours after buying three Mega Millions lottery tickets on Thursday, proving in real life the old saying that a gambler is more likely to be struck down from the sky than win the jackpot. Bill Isles, 48, bought three tickets in the record $656 million lottery Thursday at a Wichita, Kansas grocery store. On the way to his car, Isles said he commented to a friend: "I've got a better chance of getting struck by lightning" than winning the lottery. Later at about 9:30 p.m., Isles was standing in the back yard of his Wichita duplex, when he saw a flash and heard a boom -- lightning. "It threw me to the ground quivering," Isles said in a telephone interview on Saturday. "It kind of scrambled my brain and gave me an irregular heartbeat." Isles, a volunteer weather spotter for the National Weather Service, had his portable ham radio with him because he was checking the skies for storm activity. He crawled on the ground to get the radio, which had been thrown from his hand. Isles had been talking to other spotters on the radio and called in about the lightning strike. One of the spotters, a local television station intern, called 911. Isles was taken by ambulance to a hospital and kept overnight for observation. Isles said doctors wanted to make sure his heartbeat was back to normal. He suffered no burns or other physical effects from the strike, which he said could have been worse because his yard has a power line pole and wires overhead. "But for the grace of God, I would have been dead," Isles said. "It was not a direct strike." Isles said he had someone buy him ten more tickets to the Mega Millions lottery on Friday night. While one of the three winning tickets was sold in Kansas, Isles was not a winner. Officials of the Mega Millions lottery, which had the largest prize in U.S. history, said that the odds of winning lottery were about 176 million to one. Americans have a much higher chance of being struck by lightning, at 775,000 to one over the course of a year, depending on the part of the country and the season, according to the National Weather Service. Isles, who is out of work after being laid off last June by a furniture store, said he did once win $2,000 in the lottery and will keep playing. "The next time I will use the radio while sitting in the car," he said