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Commissioner says failure to explain why police did not pursue case against Matthew White ‘totally unacceptable’The Metropolitan police commissioner has apologised to the mother of Stephen Lawrence for not fulfilling a promise to explain why his force failed to properly handle evidence against one of the suspects in the teenager’s murder.A BBC investigation in 2023 identified Matthew White as the sixth suspect in the...

Crime crackdown plan also gives victims of rape and sexual assault the right to specialist support throughout justice processSix police forces will be given powers to charge domestic abuser suspects without the involvement of the Crown Prosecution Service as part of a series of Labour proposals to solve more crimes announced on Thursday.A future Keir Starmer government would also give victims in domestic abuse,...

Campaigners says ‘excited delirium’ and ‘acute behavioural disturbance’ play into racist stereotypesA controversial unproven medical condition which is rooted in pseudoscience and disputed by doctors is routinely being used in Britain to explain deaths after police restraint, the Observer has found.“Acute behavioural disturbance” (ABD) and “excited delirium” are used to describe people who are agitated or acting bizarrely, usually due to mental illness, drug...

Exclusive: Party’s proposals come after Elish Angiolini’s report into Wayne Couzens’ murder of Sarah EverardA Labour government would order every police officer in England and Wales to undergo compulsory training on combating violence against women and girls, the Guardian has learned.The plans are being drawn up by the party and come in the wake of the shockwaves from Elish Angiolini’s report on Thursday into...

James Cleverly considering longer notice periods for large demos in England and Wales, says policing ministerUK politics live – latest updatesThe home secretary, James Cleverly, is considering further tightening the law around demonstrations, including a requirement for protesters to increase the amount of notice they give police before large demonstrations, a cabinet minister has said.Extending the notice period from the current six days to...

Judges urged to keep proceedings as open as possible in case relating to Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffreyAllegations that UK police and intelligence spied on investigative journalists to identify their sources will be heard by a secret tribunal on Wednesday, with judges urged to ensure as much as possible takes place in open court.Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey asked the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT)...

On average about 30 bodies are retrieved from its waters in London each year. Only a few ever make the headlinesHistoric placenames along the River Thames in London once summed up its macabre past. There was Dead Man’s Dock at Deptford, Dead Man’s Steps at Wapping, and Dead Man’s Hole, which still exists, at Tower Bridge. They evoked stories of people who were executed,...

Other failures listed in damning official report include blaming children for ‘making poor choices’Metropolitan police officers tried to put off children from making complaints about alleged sexual abuse and privately blamed young people for crimes suffered, a damning official report has revealed.Most investigations into child exploitation were rated as inadequate by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). Of the 244 cases it examined, 43...

Met police ban face coverings in Westminster as organisers accuse force of bowing to political pressureMiddle East crisis – live updatesHundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators are expected to march through central London on Saturday in the UK’s first national demonstration since the UN’s international court of justice ordered Israel to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide in Gaza.Organisers have said...

More than 33,500 videos sent to police in England and Wales in year to November, up 30% on 2022Dangerous drivers are being caught on camera and shopped to the police in increasing numbers, with other drivers and the general public having sent more than 100,000 video reports to UK police forces.The number of reports filed in 2023 increased by 30% compared with the previous...

Some also noted rise in Islamophobia, as Muslim and Jewish charities condemn hateThe number of antisemitic hate crimes recorded by many of the UK’s largest police forces jumped sharply in the weeks after the outbreak of the Gaza-Israel conflict, figures reveal.Islamophobic offences also rose for some forces, although the overall picture was more mixed across the country. Continue reading...