Mugger Who Attacked 92-Year-Old For £5 Jailed

A robber who knocked over and injured a 92-year-old pensioner to steal £5 has been jailed for 30 months.

Solomon Bygraves, 29, told Stanley Evans he was going to help him with his wheelie bag as he returned from a shopping trip.

But as soon as he was in the block of flats he lunged for the pensioner's wallet, knocking him to the ground.

CCTV footage played at London's Southwark Crown Court showed Bygraves running off as the pensioner falls to the floor.

Mr Evans remained lying in the entrance to the flats in Soho, central London, for 10 minutes after the attack on 31 January.

Bygraves has 21 convictions for 49 different offences including two for robbery.

Stanley Evans says his attacker should be punished

The judge, Recorder Andrew Mitchell QC, said the attack on Mr Evans, now 93, could have been fatal.

He said: "The victim in the case could easily have died, not through any other reason than just snatching something from him, and causing him therefore to fall down, and he could have just gone at that age."

"He was a very small, frail man and (Bygraves) must be more than 6ft."

The court heard Bygraves was out on bail for a domestic matter at the time of the attack.

He was coming down from Class A drugs when he spotted the "vulnerable old man" return home with his shopping.

Richard Sedgwick, prosecuting, said: "Mr Bygraves is an exceedingly large man.

"There appears to be some evidence of targeting - the age and the size difference point to that.

"Mr Evans presents as an easy victim."

Outlining the attack, he said: "Mr Evans is returning to his block of flats with his shopping. He is 92 years-old.

Solomon Bygraves, captured on CCTV during the attack

"The defendant follows him in behind him. There is a conversation. Mr Evans recalls it as being about visiting a friend inside the block of flats and helping him with his shopping.

"Mr Evans then waits for a lift. The defendant returns, accosts him, takes Mr Evans' wallet from him causing Mr Evans to fall to the floor where he is unable to rise from for some time."

The pensioner, a retired camera assistant who worked on films including the 1947 classic Brighton Rock, eventually managed to get to his feet and call 999.

The attack was branded as "totally unprovoked, callous and sickening" by police.

Mr Evans suffered a shoulder and arm injury in the incident.

Bygraves, who has bipolar disorder, initially denied the crime.

He said he went over to Mr Evans because he looked ill, the pensioner collapsed and he "panicked" and ran off.

But he later admitted it and has written a letter of "remorse" to the judge.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Evans said: "I believe that the man who robbed me should be punished for attacking a 93-year-old pensioner.

"He should not abuse his strength."

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'Syria-Bound' Brit Waheed Ahmed Arrested In UK

A British man detained in Turkey for allegedly trying to cross illegally into Syria with eight members of his family has been arrested at Birmingham Airport.

Police say Waheed Ahmed, the son of Rochdale councillor Shakil Ahmed, was detained early today following his deportation from Turkey.

Ahmed is understood to have flown to Birmingham from Dalaman, according to Sky sources. The rest of the group are expected to be flown back to Britain later today.

Waheed Ahmed had changed over the last year, according to a family friend

A video released on Sunday showed Ahmed apparently leaving a Turkish police station and being put on a coach.

Ahmed was with his aunt, two cousins and one of their wives when they were stopped in Turkey, near the Syrian border on 1 April. They had four children with them.

Video: Neighbour On 'Syria-Bound' Brits

Most of the group flew from Manchester on 27 March, but Ahmed joined them three days later on a flight from Birmingham.

There were reportedly concerns about his behaviour in the months before he was arrested.

Mohammed Shafiq, who is a friend of Shakil Ahmed, said of Ahmed: "There were concerns in the last six months to a year about a change in his behaviour.

"And a change in his attitude towards various different issues."

He also told Sky News: "That was causing concern for people in the community and his family."

Other family members detained in Turkey include Zareeda Bi, 47, Maboob Yasin, 22, Habib Yasin, 24, Samia Bi, 22, and youngsters aged one, three, eight and 11.

Police are trying to establish their reason for travelling to the Syrian border.

The Foreign Office said it did not comment on individual cases.

Officers have searched at least five homes in the Manchester area, including that of the Labour councillor.

Cllr Ahmed said he thought his son had been in Birmingham on a work placement when he discovered he had been detained in Turkey.

He has described him as a "good Muslim" and said his son's "loyalties belong to Britain".

"If I thought for a second that he was in danger of being radicalised, I would have reported him to the authorities," said Cllr Ahmed.

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Inflation Steady At 0% Annual Rate In March

The annual rate of inflation has remained steady at 0% for the second consecutive month.

The Office for National Statistics said the consumer price index (CPI) measure remained at its lowest level since comparable records began in 1989 as transport costs rose - offsetting weaknesses in food and clothing prices.

Fashion costs fell between February and March for the first time on record, the ONS said, possibly reflecting changes to seasonal discount patterns.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages were 3% cheaper year on year in March, though this was a smaller decline than in the previous month.

Petrol costs rose as oil recovered a bit of ground following its dramatic collapse last year.

The ONS said fuel prices rose 3.8p between February and March, though they were still down sharply on the year.

It has been oil weakness and the effects of the supermarket price war that have driven inflation to the brink.

Some economists had predicted the CPI calculation would turn negative for March, showing prices falling on an annual basis.

While the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has welcomed the prospect of price falls for consumers and most businesses he has pledged to guard against the possibility of the UK entering a more entrenched period of falling prices, known as deflation.

Economists say deflation is unwelcome in any economy because it tends to delay purchases amid hopes the cost of goods and services will be cheaper in future.

Static prices have arrived at a time when wages are starting to grow following six years of inflation outpacing salary increases.

The last ONS figures on wages showed annual growth of 1.6% when the effects of bonuses were stripped out.

Mr Carney has been awaiting better news on wage growth as a pre-condition to raising the base rate of interest from its historic low of 0.5%.

But the inflation figures place the Bank's monetary policy committee under no pressure to act and most economists see no prospect of bank rate going up until next year.

The Bank has forecast a short period of negative inflation within months.

That is likely to be aided by figures showing that core inflation, a measure which strips out volatile factors such as energy and food, fell sharply to 1.0% in March,

The pound fell by half a cent against the US dollar, hitting $1.46, shortly after the ONS released the figures. 

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Jail Threat As 'Revenge Porn' Law Comes In

Sharing sexually explicit images without consent carries a potential two-year jail sentence from today, as a new 'revenge porn' law comes into force.

The measure targets people who share images or video without permission and with the intention of causing distress.

They are often posted by an ex-partner and sometimes accompanied by personal details, such as a social media profile.

The new law includes uploading to the internet, sending by text, email or messaging platforms, as well as simply showing someone a physical or electronic image.

The Crown Prosecution Service says it "covers images that show the genitals but also anything that a reasonable person would consider to be sexual, so this could be a picture of someone who is engaged in sexual behaviour or posing in a sexually provocative way".

Campaigners hope it will dramatically reduce the number of cases of revenge porn and make it easier to get justice for victims.

Previously, a mix of existing laws, such as the Communications Act and the Protection from Harassment Act, were used to prosecute offenders.

Children as young as 11 have been victims, according to the police.

Calls for a bespoke law gathered momentum after recent high-profile leaks of intimate celebrity images featuring the likes of Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence and Tulisa Contostavlos.

Campaigner Hannah Thompson, 22, called the changes a "huge step forward".

She said: "I was a victim of revenge porn, and I spent months agonising over it and believing that it was my fault.

"This new law, along with the advice helpline, empowers victims and clearly displays that they are not at fault."

There were 149 allegations of revenge porn in the two and a half years to September 2014, according to eight police forces in England and Wales with data on it.

The vast majority were women but only six incidents ended with any kind of police caution or charge.

Other laws coming in under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act include increasing the maximum jail term for online trolls to two years, and making it illegal to possess extreme pornography that depicts rape.

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'Syria-Bound' Briton To Be Sent Home To UK

One of nine Britons held in Turkey on suspicion of trying to illegally enter Syria is being flown back to the UK, Sky News understands.

Waheed Ahmed - the son of Rochdale councillor Shakil Ahmed - will fly from Dalaman into Birmingham overnight today, according to Sky sources.

The remaining eight will return on Tuesday, it is understood.

Waheed Ahmed, right, starts his journey back to the UK

All of the group are from the same family.

Mr Ahmed, 21, was with his aunt, two cousins and one of their wives when they were stopped in Turkey, near the Syrian border. They had four children with them.

Video: Reaction To 'Syria-Bound' Britons

Most of the group flew from Manchester on 27 March but Mr Ahmed joined them three days later on a flight from Birmingham.

There were reportedly concerns about his behaviour in the months before he was arrested.

Mohammed Shafiq, who is a friend of Shakil Ahmed, said of Waheed: "There were concerns in the last six months to a year about a change in his behaviour.

"And a change in his attitude towards various different issues."

He also told Sky News: "That was causing concern for people in the community and his family."

Other family members detained include Zareeda Bi, 47, Maboob Yasin, 22, Habib Yasin, 24, Samia Bi, 22, and youngsters aged one, three, eight and 11.

Police are trying to establish their reason for travelling to the Syrian border.

The Foreign Office said it did not comment on individual cases.

Officers have searched at least five homes in the Manchester area, including that of the Labour councillor.

Cllr Ahmed said he thought his son had been in Birmingham on a work placement when he discovered that he had been detained in Turkey.

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Man Arrested Over Syrian Preacher's Murder

A man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder Syrian-born preacher Abdul Hadi Arwani, who was shot dead in northwest London.

The 46-year-old suspect was arrested on Sunday evening in Brent, the Metropolitan Police said.

He remains in custody at a central London police station.

Mr Arwani -  a critic of the Bashar al Assad regime -  was found in his Volkswagen Passat in Wembley with gunshot wounds on 7 April.

Mr Arwani was found dead in his Volkswagen Passat

Police are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen Mr Arwani or his car on Sunday 5 April or Tuesday 7 April.

Detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) unit have taken the lead in the investigation because of their "expertise in the management of investigations with international dimensions and an established liaison network abroad".

They have discovered that Mr Arwani, 48, had driven near to where his body was found on the morning of 5 April, and parked in Havenwood, where he remained for a short time.

The force said officers were "open-minded" about the motive of the killing.

Mr Arwani, a father of six, was an imam at the An Noor mosque in Acton, west London, between 2005 and 2011.

He is thought to have fled Syria as a teenager in 1982 after surviving the Hama massacre. He is believed to have attended protests against Assad outside the Syrian embassy in 2012.

Mr Arwani had been a preacher at the An Noor mosque in Acton

Mr Arwani's 20-year-old son, Murhaf Arwani, has appealed for people to help the police in their investigation.

He said: "The police are currently investigating this brutal murder. As an individual, a family and a community, we are helping the police to solve this heinous crime.

"Any information we have has, and will be passed on to them and we urge anyone with any information to please please please do the same.

"To members of the public that knew my late father and even those of you who didn't know him, please tell us what you know. We know that it won't bring our father back to us but it may help to deliver justice to those who killed him."

:: Anyone with information is urged to contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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More Buyers Building Homes - The Old Way

By Enda Brady, Sky News Correspondent

With property prices rising and many young people still finding it hard to get a mortgage, more and more would-be homeowners across Britain are turning to one of the oldest methods of building.

Cob building involves using earth, sand, straw and clay as the raw materials for walls. It's estimated that a three-bed cob home would cost in the region of £25,000 to build.

All that's needed is a plot of land and planning permission - and the right knowledge.

Charlotte Eve runs classes on how to build cob homes from her Norfolk base and says that hundreds of people are signing up to learn the skills needed for their own projects.

Natural, cheap materials are used in DIY cob building

"You can't get more sustainable than a cob home," she told Sky News.

"You dig your foundations on site and you use the clay from that foundation trench to make your walls. It's very environmentally friendly and it's also cheap - cheap in terms of construction costs and also in terms of heating the finished home.

Video: Archive: House Building In Crisis

"Your costs for the project are extremely low."

Self building accounts for only 10% of the UK market. That's despite lower costs - £150,000 for the average project, which is £80,000 less than a ready-made home.

Tony Tkaczuk from Lancashire is working on an upgrade of his cob cottage and says he'd recommend a self-build to anyone.

Video: Archive: Osborne On Housing

"It's very fulfilling actually, you have done it yourself and that's a great feeling," Tony told Sky News.

"You can work together as a team, like my wife and I do. And at the end it's wonderful to think to yourselves 'yes, we did that'."

At the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in Watford, experts monitor construction trends across the UK each year. They point out that around 11,000 projects in Britain last year were self-builds.

Video: Experts Debate The Generation Gap

"There's a lot of time, energy and emotion required," said BRE's chief executive, Dr Peter Bonfield. "There are a lot of benefits to self-builds, you can feel really proud of what you have achieved.

"There are also a lot of professional companies out there doing this kind of thing day in and day out. So it's a choice really, a big decision for people."

The Government hopes self-built properties could help combat a housing shortfall of 750,000 homes across the UK by 2025.

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Aintree Racegoer 'Knocked OAP To The Ground'

Police are investigating after a video emerged appearing to show a Grand National racegoer deliberately knocking over an elderly man.

The video is believed to have been made outside the racecourse in Aintree where around 150,000 people attended the event.

In the footage, a racegoer walks along the pavement before knocking into the victim, who then falls to the ground.

Onlookers are heard gasping and seen rushing to the pensioner's aid before an ambulance is called.

The video appears to have been made by a friend of the racegoer and he shouts "text bomb" and "is there any need?" just moments before the incident, as he sniggers from behind his phone.

A Merseyside Police spokesman said officers are treating the incident as an assault and appealed for help in finding the victim.

"Merseyside Police has been made aware of a video showing a man shoulder-barging another, older man, over in a road near to the Aintree racecourse," he said.

"The incident is being treated as assault and officers are speaking to several people believed to have further information that could help the investigation.

"Inquiries are also being carried out to establish exactly when and where the incident occurred and checks are being made with local hospitals to see if further information can be found out about the victim and what his condition is now.

"We are grateful to the people who reported this video to us and we will endeavour to update them once further enquiries by officers have been made. "We would continue to welcome any information from anyone who witnessed the incident itself on 101. "

Earlier, police said the annual race had seen no arrests over its three-day course, thanking the public for making the event such a "safe and enjoyable occasion".

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British Boy Killed In Alps Ski Fall 'Was Lost'

A British boy who died in a skiing accident while on a family holiday in the French Alps was skiing alone at his own request, according to reports.

The seven-year-old fell around 160ft from a cliff to his death in the alpine resort of Flaine on Friday.

He had been skiing with his mother, brother and sister but is understood to have asked to ski the day's final descent on his own.

His family became worried after he failed to reach the bottom of the slopes, prompting a search which ended when his body was discovered around three-and-a-half hours later.

The alpine resort of Flaine, in France

The circumstances around the incident are still being investigated by the authorities, with some reports suggesting the boy was instead somehow separated from his family.

There have been reports that the boy was not skiing on his own, and had instead gotten lost from the group he was with.

Michel Ollagnon, an officer with the Bonneville mountain rescue service, said the boy's body was spotted off his expected course by rescuers in a helicopter on Friday evening.

Police chief Patrick Poirot, the head of the mountain rescue division in the nearby town of Annecy, was quoted in the Daily Mirror saying: "Specialists are at the scene to try and determine exactly what happened and understand every element that led to this tragedy.

"Hypothetically we think that, after losing his parents, the little boy didn't know where to go and skied in the wrong direction.

"He's just seven-years-old.

"He left the marked ski slope and probably skied to the top of a cliff.

"He then stopped, removed his skis, walked a little way and then fell.

"He fell 50 metres."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said they were aware of the death and are providing consular assistance.

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One Dead As Stolen Ambulance Collides With Bus

The driver of a stolen ambulance has been killed after the vehicle crashed into a double-decker bus near York, according to Sky sources.

The person driving the ambulance - who police believe was not a paramedic or a member of ambulance staff - was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the bus and five of its 16 passengers were taken to hospital after the collision on the A64, near the Flaxton junction, about 8.30pm.

Their injuries were not life-threatening.

Another person, travelling in a Toyota Yaris with one other, was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Motorists have been asked to stay away from the area.

North Yorkshire Police tweeted: "The A64 at #York, near the Flaxton junction, is closed in both directions due to a serious collision. Please avoid the area."

Police have urged anyone who witnessed the crash or saw either of the vehicles beforehand to contact police and quote reference number 556 of 10 April.

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