Wrongful Arrest Robbed Me Of Chance To Grieve For 3-Year-Old Son, Says Mum

A grieving mother has told of her agony when she was wrongly arrested on suspicion of murder after her three-year-old son died of a chest infection.
















Alfie died of a chest infection aged three.
















Abby Podmore says she was robbed of the chance to say goodbye.

Abby Podmore described how her ‘horrifying’ ordeal had robbed her of the chance to grieve for Alfie, who passed away in his sleep.

An investigation has now been launched by the Independent Police Complaints Committee.

The 20-year-old dental nurse has also received an apology from the hospital which mistakenly sent Alfie home after failing to spot the serious lung infection that killed him.

Ms Podmore told an inquest: ‘I couldn’t believe what was happening – my son had just died and I was being treated like a criminal. Looking back, I feel like I was robbed of a chance to say goodbye to Alfie.

‘I wanted to be with his body, just wanted to be with him.’

The boy was taken ill at nursery on February 2 and seen at Birmingham Children’s Hospital the following day but was discharged after medics said he was only suffering from a gastric virus.

They prescribed antacid medication rather than antibiotics that might have saved him from an ‘aggressive’ bacterial infection of pneumonia.

Alfie died at home on February 6 despite his mother’s attempts to revive him.

But when an ambulance arrived, it was joined by 15 police officers in two riot vans to detain Ms Podmore and her partner.

At Birmingham coroners’ court, Judge Aidan Cotter condemned police for the way in which they showed ‘no compassion’ and that, in her shoes, he ‘probably would have gone round and thumped a police officer’.

Det Insp Moira Blackburn said police arrested Ms Podmore after a neighbour falsely claimed the mother and her partner had been heard arguing.

Recording a narrative verdict, Mr Cotter said Alfie died as a result of failings by the hospital – and that doctors had made a clinical misjudgment.

Hospital bosses accepted liability and apologised to Ms Podmore, insisting lessons had been learnt.

Hacking MPs Recall News International's James Murdoch

James Murdoch is to face more questions from MPs investigating the News of the World (NoW) phone-hacking scandal.









James Murdoch was questioned by MPs for nearly three hours in July.

The Commons culture committee has recalled News International's chairman to give evidence. The company said Mr Murdoch would be "happy to appear".

It comes after MPs heard conflicting evidence over how much Mr Murdoch knew about the practice at the NoW.

Separately, it has emerged the mother of a 7/7 bombing victim is to pursue a civil case against News International.

The case of Sheila Henry, whose son, Christian Small, was killed in the 2005 Russell Square explosion, will be one of six test cases for civil damages claims against News Group Newspapers over phone-hacking claims.

'Happy to appear'

It is not known when Mr Murdoch will appear before the culture committee.

John Whittingdale, its chairman, said the committee wanted to first hear evidence from other witnesses, including former senior News Corporation executive Les Hinton and Mark Lewis, the lawyer representing alleged phone-hacking victims.

A spokesman for News Corp, the parent company of News International, said: "James Murdoch is happy to appear in front of the committee again to answer any further questions members might have."

Earlier this month, former NoW legal manager Tom Crone told MPs he was "certain" he told Mr Murdoch about an email which indicated phone hacking at the paper went beyond one rogue reporter.

Mr Crone said "it was the reason that we had to settle" a case. Former editor Colin Myler also told the committee the email was discussed.

Mr Murdoch, however, has insisted he was not told about the email.

In July, he and his father - Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corp - faced nearly three hours in front of the parliamentary committee, answering questions about what they had done to unravel the scandal at the News of the World.

At the High Court, Mr Justice Vos has been considering applications from a number of alleged phone-hacking victims to decide whose will be heard as test cases in the new year.

Earlier, he added that of Sheila Henry to a list including actor Jude Law, MP Chris Bryant, interior designer Kelly Hoppen, sports agent Sky Andrew and ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne.

Other developments to emerge from the High Court hearing include:

* The family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was allegedly hacked, have not issued proceedings.

* Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes issued proceedings against the NoW.

* Mr Justice Vos, himself, was told the Daily Star had linked him to hacking, but he said he had not been provided with any evidence. "I rarely leave or receive voicemail messages in any case," he told the court.

* New and significant information has been found at News International.

Scotland Yard is currently investigating claims that reporters hacked into the messages of celebrities and public figures between 2005 and 2006.

Man In Court Over Killing Wife And Mum-In-Law

A man charged with murdering his wife and his mother-in-law at their home in Oxfordshire has appeared in court.












Turkish national Ensar Gol with his 28-year-old British wife Michaela.

Ensar Gol, 21, smiled at photographers as he was escorted, wearing handcuffs, by police into Oxford Magistrates' Court.

The Turkish national is accused of killing Michaela Gol, 28, and 50-year-old Julie Sahin in their home on Ireton Court, Thame.

The two women were found with fatal injuries by officers at the house in the early hours of Sunday morning.


















The suspect being escorted to Oxford Magistrates' Court.

Gol is also charged with the attempted murder of his wife's family friend, 19-year-old Casey Wilson who is in a stable condition in hospital.

He was detained by officers in Thame Market Place shortly after the bodies of Mrs Gol and Ms Sahin were found.

Post-mortem examinations will be conducted to determine how the women died.












The housing development where two women were found dead.

In court, Gol spoke through a Turkish interpreter only to confirm his name and date of birth during the brief hearing.

Prosecutions Sarah Mackay told the court that Gol had only just recently arrived in the UK. She added that he had no right to apply for bail.

Chair of the bench David Simmons told Gol he was sending him to trial and remanded him to appear before Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday.

Security Tight As Terrorist Trial Begins In Northern Ireland

Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- One of Northern Ireland's biggest terrorist trials in decades started Tuesday at Belfast Crown Court amid tight security.











Police walk into the front of Belfast Court on September 6, 2011, ahead of the trial of 14 alleged paramilitary members.

Fourteen alleged members of the pro-British or loyalist paramilitary group known as the Ulster Volunteer Force are accused of a total of 97 offenses. The men range in age from 32 to 46.

Nine defendants are charged with murder in the October 2000 slaying of rival paramilitary leader Tommy English. The 40-year-old Ulster Defence Association member was gunned down in front of his wife and young children on Halloween night during a bloody feud between the rival groups.

The Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association were responsible for the killings of hundreds of people during the conflict between pro-British and pro-Irish forces in Northern Ireland over a 30-year period known as the Troubles. Most of their victims were Catholic civilians. The groups have remained active since the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998.

Two brothers -- David and Robert Stewart -- are giving evidence against their alleged former colleagues in the Ulster Volunteer Force. The Stewarts admitted to their part in English's killing and agreed to testify to get a reduced sentence.

One of the accused is Mark Haddock, 42, named as a police agent in a 2007 report on the Ulster Volunteer Force by former Northern Ireland police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan. O'Loan said an Ulster Volunteer Force gang based in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast had been involved in up to 15 murders and that the Northern Ireland police special branch unit had allowed informers within the Mount Vernon group to act with impunity.

At trial, Haddock is sitting separately from the 13 other defendants, surrounded by prison officers for his own safety. Two of his co-defendants were previously charged with trying to kill Haddock in 2006, but murder charges were dropped when he refused to give evidence. A prosecutor opened the case Tuesday, saying Haddock had ordered English's murder.

Robert Stewart, 37, then started testifying Tuesday. He also said Haddock ordered the killing and told the gunman to try to avoid shooting the rest of English's family.

Supporters of the accused men staged a protest outside the court against the use of "supergrasses," or slang for informers. The term was first used in Northern Ireland in the 1980s when a number of terrorist suspects were convicted on the evidence of former comrades.

The trial is being held under 2005 legislation introduced by the United Kingdom -- the Serious Organized Crime and Police Act -- which allows a suspect to enter a written agreement to give evidence against other alleged criminals.

Victims' relatives are being given protection from supporters of the Ulster Volunteer Force attending the trial at Laganside courts in Belfast. Families are able to watch proceedings by video link in a separate, secure venue. Large numbers of police officers are inside and outside the court complex.

The trial could last three months and will be one of the most expensive ever in Northern Ireland. Police fear there could be unrest in Protestant/loyalist districts as the trial progresses.

Wootton Bassett Timeline: How The Repatriation Ceremony Came About

From 2007's first spontaneous gesture of respect to 2011 when the flag was lowered for the last time in Wiltshire town.












Crowds gather for the repatriation procession of three soldiers killed in Afghanistan – Captain Daniel Read, Corporal Lee Brownson and Rifleman Luke Farmer – through Wootton Bassett in January 2010.

Spring 2007

The bodies of fallen service personnel are to be repatriated through RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire rather than Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. This means funeral corteges will pass through Wootton Bassett en route to hospital in Oxford.

April 2007

The first repatriation takes place through Wootton. Mayor Percy Miles is told and decides to wear his mayoral robes to watch the cortege pass. The first soldiers to be honoured are Aaron Lincoln, 18, and Danny Wilson, 28.

2007 and 2008

The number of people lining the streets gradually grows. The local branch of the Royal British Legion begins to alert townspeople and veterans' groups when a repatriation is to take place. Hundreds, then thousands, many travelling from far afield, begin to turn out.

July 2009

The bodies of eight soldiers are repatriated. Three were killed as they rushed to rescue comrades injured in an earlier blast. For the first time relatives applaud and throw flowers.

Summer 2009

There is growing unease in the town over the attention focused on Wootton Bassett. Residents complain that the media is intruding and turning repatriations into a circus. Concern too at the outward shows of emotion by some family members.

November 2009

The body of bomb disposal expert Olaf Schmid is repatriated. His dignified widow, Christina Schmid, grabs headlines as she applauds the hearse carrying her husband's body.

November 2009

A particularly charged repatriation when the bodies of five soldiers killed by a rogue Afghan policeman are brought home. The BNP leader Nick Griffin appears in the crowd.

December 2009

Anger when the BBC films Question Time from Wootton Bassett. Residents have tried to keep politics out. Afghanistan dominates the show's agenda.

January 2010

The radical Islamist group Islam4UK causes outrage by announcing it wishes to stage an anti-war protest in the town. The idea is abandoned.

June 2010

The bodies of seven servicemen, killed in four separate incidents in Afghanistan, are repatriated. Two were killed in firefights, one by an explosion. Four died when their vehicle rolled into a canal.

March 2011

David Cameron announces Wootton Bassett is to become the first English town for more than a century to be granted the title "royal" to mark the way it has honoured fallen personnel.

August 2011

The final repatriation – the 167th takes place. In all 345 men and women have been repatriated through the town.

Man Dies After Taser Arrest Near Bolton

IPCC to investigate police use of Taser to subdue man, 53 – the third fatal arrest using stun gun or pepper spray in a week.












A police officer holds a Taser gun. Three men have died in just over a week after being subdued with the stun gun or pepper spray.

A man who stabbed himself in the abdomen has died after being Tasered by police officers.

Philip Hulmes, 53, was hit with electric probes from the stun gun after barricading himself in his home in Over Hulton, near Bolton, on Tuesday night.

It is thought a concerned relative called police to the house at 8.30pm. Police were told that Hulmes, who was armed with a knife, had locked himself in, was making threats and had begun to stab himself.

Officers arrived and smashed a hole in the door. When they spotted his injuries they called for Taser-trained back up.

After further failed attempts to talk him out of the building they broke in and used the stun gun.

He was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital but he died about half an hour later.

Investigations by the Professional Standards Branch and the Independent Police Complaints Commission are due to begin.

Greater Manchester police said the officers had been threatened. They entered the house and deployed a Taser.

"After it was deployed, it became apparent he had a serious self-inflicted stab wound to his abdomen," police said in a statement.

"A Home Office postmortem examination is due to be carried out later today."

The GMP's Professional Standards Branch will oversee the investigation and will be making a mandatory referral to the IPCC.

The commission is also investigating another death when up to 11 officers arrested a man after restraining him with pepper spray. The man became unwell and died in hospital within two hours.

Jacob Michael, 25, from Widnes, Cheshire, died after he became ill on Monday evening. He managed to flee police but was brought down on a grass verge close to his home and restrained.

Some witnesses expressed concerns about the arrest.

The IPCC said pepper spray had been used and its investigators would carry out inquiries.

Cheshire police's assistant chief constable expressed his condolences to the man's family and friends.

"I believe it is important for the community to know that the detailed postmortem examination … found no physical injuries on Jacob that could be attributable to a cause of death," ACC Philip Thompson said.

"Whilst pepper spray was discharged during the course of his arrest, there is no evidence that the use of pepper spray was the sole factor or indeed a contributory factor to Mr Michael becoming unwell some time after his arrest or as a cause of his death."

He appealed for calm and said further extensive tests would help establish an exact cause of death.

Last week, 27-year-old bodybuilder Dale Burns died in Cumbria after he was Tasered and sprayed with pepper spray by police during an arrest. A postmortem was unable to establish a cause of death.

The IPCC is investigating Cumbria police.

Pensioner Found Murdered At Home

A pensioner was discovered murdered at her home in a quiet Northumberland market town after her handbag was found dumped 23 miles away.












Police cordoned off St Wilfrid's Road, Hexham, Northumberland, after 77-year-old Judith Richardson was found dead in a property, having suffered head injuries.

Police found the body of 77-year-old Judith Richardson at her house in Hexham, close to the town's historic abbey. She had suffered severe head injuries.

Miss Richardson's body was discovered after a member of the public found a discarded handbag in a bin in Newcastle upon Tyne city centre, half an hour's drive from the town.

Police investigated the contents, which led them to Mrs Richardson's address in St Wilfrid's Road, at around 6.45pm on Friday.

It is believed she had been bludgeoned to death with a weapon.

Detectives are investigating whether the handbag was abandoned after being stolen from Mrs Richardson's home during a violent burglary.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Young, of Northumbria Police, said: "What I will suggest is that the evidence indicates that there has been some kind of motive of either robbery or burglary.

"She appeared to have had injuries, but I wouldn't like to say what weapon was used."

DCI Young added: "We are working tirelessly to establish the exact circumstances and find those responsible.

"We ask anyone who may have been in the area at the time or witnessed any suspicious behaviour to contact police immediately.

"All information is crucial to us, no matter how insignificant you may think. We want to reassure the community that this appears to be an isolated incident and we do have visible officers on the beat in and around the Hexham area."

DCI Young said there were no signs of forced entry at the address. He added that Miss Richardson had been spotted on Friday morning walking her dog.

A force spokeswoman said: "At this stage it appears she had suffered a head injury."

A post mortem examination will be carried out on Sunday.

Anyone who has any information is asked to contact Northumbria Police on 03456 043 043 ext 69191 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Swire Fears For Megrahi Safety

A father who lost his daughter in the Lockerbie bombing says he is concerned for the safety of the man convicted of the atrocity as he announced he was stepping down from frontline campaigning.














Dr Jim Swire, who has been a spokesman for UK Families Flight 103, which represented British relatives, said he was concerned US special forces could kill Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

Megrahi, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer, was released from a Scottish prison in August 2009 on compassionate grounds, after serving nearly eight years of a 27 year sentence for killing 270 people.

Of those, 259 victims were on Pan Am Flight 103, with 11 residents killed by falling wreckage after it exploded over Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway, on December 21, 1988.

Dr Swire's daughter Flora was killed in the bombing.

The former GP, who lives in Chipping Campden and believes Megrahi is innocent, said: "I am worried for him. I can just see the unit they sent to kill Osama bin Laden being sent to extract Megrahi. Presumably, they wouldn't extract him but kill him on the spot."

Dr Swire said he was stepping down from frontline campaigning as a group of British lawyers, including QCs, were keen to look at evidence from Megrahi's trial.

"There's a whole cohort of senior lawyers who are keen to get involved," he added.

Dr Swire also said the emergence of the Justice For Megrahi campaign group was another reason for his decision.

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, who is also an MSP for East Lothian, said: "This poll and comments from Libya's newly-recognised government show how wrong this decision was and why it is time for Alex Salmond, on the second anniversary of al-Megrahi's release, to apologise finally to the relatives of the victims."