Veiled Acid Attacker Sentenced To 12 Years

By Siobhan Robbins, Sky News Reporter

A woman who threw acid in the face of her friend, leaving her scarred for life, has been sentenced to 12 years in jail.

Mary Konye, 22, cried as the sentence was handed down at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Her victim Naomi Oni has had skin grafts to cover the severe burns and has been left with scars on her face, legs, chest, stomach and arms.

The 22-year-old Victoria's Secret shop assistant was almost blinded in one eye, lost an eyelid, her eyelashes and hair following the attack on December 30, 2012, in Dagenham, East London.

Mary Konye dressed in a veil to carry out an attack on her friend.

In a statement read out in court, Naomi Oni said she felt "violated" by the attack, which left her feeling like killing herself.

Before the attack, she told the court, she was a "confident" young woman with a job she enjoyed.

"All this changed that day I was struck with acid and my life was turned upside down," she said.

She described every day now as "a battle to get by".

"I'm going to have these scars as a reminder forever ... my injuries are due to the carefully planned acts of an evil, wicked person," Ms Oni added.

Konye disguised herself in a Muslim veil and followed Naomi Oni home from work before attacking her.

No clear motive has ever been discovered but it is believed the pair fell out in April 2011 after Ms Oni allegedly accused Konye of texting her boyfriend and called her an "ugly monster".

On sentencing Konye, Judge David Radford said Konye had shown no remorse for the "deliberate and wicked act".

Naomi Oni had to receive months of treatment for her injuries.

Judge Radford said: "This careful, premeditated criminality was planned against a person who reasonably believed you were a true friend.

"Her friendship had been so wilfully betrayed by you," he said, adding the attack had "ruined" Ms Oni's life.

Following the assault Konye pretended to offer her former friend support, texting her in hospital.

Although it is thought Konye could have planned the attack for two years, she later suggested Ms Oni had devised the whole thing to get "fame and fortune".

The attack is believed to have been a copycat version of the one suffered by model and TV presenter Katie Piper, who was badly scarred and left blind in one eye in an assault arranged by her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch, in 2008.

Previously, Ms Oni had told the court that Konye knew the impact the attack had on her after they watched a TV documentary about it.

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Tape Measure 'Better For Weighing Up Obesity'

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

The current method of judging obesity is so complex it should be replaced by a simple tape measure, according to a leading specialist.

Dr Jude Oben, from the Obesity Action Campaign, said the body mass index, or BMI, is "tedious" to calculate and poorly understood by patients.

He told Sky News that straightforward measurement of waist size was a more accurate assessment of someone's fat - and far more user friendly.

"The fat inside your abdomen is a good indicator of your metabolic risk," he said.

"For example your risk of heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, post-menopausal breast cancer, colorectal cancer. 

"So why not measure it simply? A tape measure does that."

He said studies show men should keep their waist - measured at the level of the belly-button - below 90 cm (35.5 inches). Women should keep it below 80cm (31.5 inches).

At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight

BMI is a complex calculation in which a patient's weight in kilogrammes is divided by the square of their height in metres.

If the result is greater than 25, patients are judged to be overweight.

"By that point most of them have switched off or left the room," said Dr Oben.

BMI takes no account of muscle mass. Athletes can register as being overweight even though they have minimal body fat.

Catherine Dias has had a weight problem for many years. But she still hasn't got to grips with BMI - and much prefers measuring her waist size.

"It's simple, it's easy. You know what you have to get down to," she said.

"To do it the other way it's a lot of calculations. I couldn't do that."

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Jean McConville Case: Ex-IRA Chief Charged

A former Irish Republican Army commander has been charged in connection with the murder of a mother of 10 more than 40 years ago.

Ivor Bell, 77, is due to appear in court in Belfast today accused of aiding and abetting in the murder of Jean McConville and membership of the IRA.

He was detained at his home in the Andersonstown district of west Belfast on Tuesday.

Mrs McConville was abducted by an IRA gang of up to 12 men and women at her home at Divis Flats, Belfast, in December 1972 after being accused of spying for the British.

The 37-year-old was taken at gunpoint and shot in the back of the head.

Her murder was one of the most notorious incidents during the Troubles.

For years she was one of the so-called Disappeared, those abducted and killed by republican paramilitaries during this period and buried in unmarked graves.

Jean McConville's funeral in 2003

Mrs McConville's children were told their mother had abandoned them.

It was not until August 2003 that her remains were found over the border in the Republic of Ireland, on Shelling Hill beach in County Louth - 50 miles from her home.

The IRA had admitted responsibility for her killing in 1999, although no one has ever been charged with her murder.

An investigation by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman rejected allegations Mrs McConville had passed information to the British.

Some of Mrs McConville's children have accused Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams of directly ordering their mother's killing, claims he denies, along with allegations he was involved in the IRA.

Mr Bell and Mr Adams were part of an IRA negotiating team which headed to London for ceasefire talks in 1972.

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Single Punch Killer's Sentence To Be Reviewed

A man who killed a stranger with a single punch has had his sentence referred to the Court of Appeal for being "unduly lenient".

Lewis Gill, 20, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for manslaughter after knocking Andrew Young to the ground in Bournemouth last November.

The sentence was widely criticised and Attorney General Dominic Grieve has now sent the case to the Court of Appeal.

CCTV images of the assault show Mr Young challenging a cyclist who was riding on the pavement.

Gill, an acquaintance of the cyclist, arrives at the scene and watches the discussion before lunging at the 40-year-old.

Gill then walks away, glancing back momentarily at his victim lying on the street.

The attack occurred outside Tesco Metro in Charminster Road, Bournemouth.

Lewis Gill pleaded guilty to manslaughter

Mr Young sustained a serious head injury and died the next day at a hospital in Southampton.

Gill, of Sutton in Surrey, will have his case reviewed at the Court of Appeal in five to seven weeks.

The victim's family described his sentence as an "absolute joke".

Speaking after the sentence was passed in February, Mr Young's mother, Pamela, said her son had Asperger's syndrome, which affected his social skills.

"He was very precise and particular because of his Asperger's, and he wouldn't have liked seeing someone riding a bicycle on the pavement because it was dangerous," she told the Dorset Daily Echo.

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Dramatic Tales Of Bravery In Military Honours

By Ursula Hansford, Sky News

A British soldier has been awarded the second highest military award - the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross - for bravery in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Simon Moloney of The Blues and Royals was seriously injured by a gunshot wound but continued to provide protection for his comrades for 90 minutes in temperatures in excess of 40 degrees.

The 23-year-old from St Albans told Sky News: "I thought it was game over - a gunshot wound to the neck, I thought the artery would have been cut … so you've got about three minutes to live which is why I carried on."

The bullet missed Lance Corporal Moloney's vital arteries

Lance Corporal Moloney was part of a troop who landed by helicopter deep in an insurgent stronghold as part an operation to gather intelligence and disrupt the enemy.

It was when he was providing watch from a roof that he came under attack from an enemy sharpshooter.

A bullet ripped through his neck missing his vital arteries and voice box by millimetres and hurling him from the rooftop.

Lance Corporal Moloney was extracted against his will

Shouting through his throat injury and over the crackle of enemy sniper rounds he passed vital target information to win the firefight before being extracted by helicopter against his will.

Describing how he feels about being given the award Lance Corporal Moloney told Sky News: "It's not really sunk in yet but over the moon."

A total of 117 members of the armed forces are recognised in the latest round of military honours.

Lance Corporal Sinead Dodds of the Royal Army Medical Corps

Among them is 21-year-old Lance Corporal Sinead Dodds of the Royal Army Medical Corps, who has been awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery.

She helped free her commander who was trapped when the armoured vehicle they were travelling in was hit by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

Despite having lost her hearing and being in pain she moved him - a man at least twice her weight - into a position where she could begin providing life-saving first aid in the darkness.

Lance Corporal Dodds told Sky News: "It was hard but I think the adrenalin kicked in and I didn't feel any pain at that point."

RAF Flight Lieutenant Charlie Lockyear and Master Aircrew Bob Sunderland

Another act of bravery came from the RAF's Flight Lieutenant Charlie Lockyear from Teignmouth, Devon, and Master Aircrew Bob Sunderland from Englefield Green, Surrey, who landed their Chinook helicopter under fire from Afghan insurgents.

Flt Lt Lockyear, the Captain, was given the Distinguished Flying Cross while MACR Sunderland was awarded a Mention in Dispatches.

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Road-Death Sentences 'Are Not Tough Enough'

By Lisa Dowd, Sky News Correspondent

Some 82% of motorists think sentences should be higher for drivers who kill people on the roads, according to a survey by road safety charity Brake.

Latest government figures show only 62% of those convicted of killing someone through risky driving were jailed, and only 9% received sentences of five years or more in prison.

Bereaved relatives are backing a campaign calling on the Government to ensure motorists are not "let off" on lesser charges, which carry lower penalties.

Mandy Stock was walking home with her husband Paul when he was knocked down and killed by a motorcyclist in Gloucester two years ago.

Paul Stock was killed while walking home with his wife

Graham Godwin had been speeding, had a passenger illegally riding pillion and was disqualified from driving. His criminal record included 45 previous traffic offences.

A judge described him as "an absolute menace".

"He was actually charged with causing death while disqualified not dangerous or careless driving," said Mandy, 51.

"The maximum sentence for causing death while disqualified is two years, which he got, but he got six months knocked off for pleading guilty, and only spent nine months in prison, as he was allowed out half way through the term. I'm angry, very angry."

Campaigners say if someone has been killed or seriously injured on our roads, and risks were taken by those responsible, those actions should never be called "careless" in the eyes of the law, but always "dangerous", meaning judges could give maximum sentences of 14 years.

Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: "We want the Government to acknowledge how inadequate current charges and penalties are and take action to prevent traumatised families suffering further insult.

"Denying justice to victim families often has a terrible impact on their ability to rebuild and move forward with their lives.

Bereaved relatives want tougher sentences

"Brake bears witness to the consequences for these vulnerable families every day through its support services for bereaved and injured crash victims.

"Our justice system should make clear that risky, illegal behaviour on roads is no accident: it's selfish, destructive, and unacceptable."

The Ministry of Justice is currently considering whether to make changes to charges and penalties for serious driving offences.

Justice Minister Jeremy Wright said: "Road traffic offences can have very serious and sometimes devastating consequences for victims and their families.

"That is why we are looking closely at the law and giving careful consideration to all the representations received on this complex and emotive subject - and why we have asked the Sentencing Council to review their sentencing guidelines on death by driving offences.

"Judges already have some tough sentencing options available to them for driving offences - causing death by dangerous driving already carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, as does causing death by careless driving when drunk or drugged.

"We also introduced a new offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in 2012. But the sentencing in individual cases is always a matter for the judge."

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Madeleine Police Appeal Over Abuse Suspect

Police searching for Madeleine McCann have launched a search for a man who abused children in holiday homes in Portugal.

Officers from Operation Grange have identified a series of 12 crimes between 2004 and 2010 where a male intruder entered villas occupied by UK families on holiday in the Western Algarve.

In four of these incidents - between 2004 and 2006 - the man sexually assaulted five white girls, aged between seven and 10, while in their beds.

Madeleine disappeared in 2007

The cases are not identical but there are enough similarities for police to believe finding this suspect could be key.

In most cases it was low season, there were no signs of forced entry, nothing was taken and the intruder appeared between 2am and 5am.

A three-year-old Madeleine vanished in May 2007 from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends

Of the 12 offences at the centre of the new lead, four were in Carvoeiro, six in the Vale da Parra and two in Praia da Luz.

On one occasion, the man assaulted two girls in the same villa.

A distinctive burgundy long-sleeve top worn by the suspect

DCI Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, said the suspect had an "unhealthy interest in young white female children".

"We need to establish the identity of this man," he added.

"These offences are very serious and no one has been charged in connection with them. We also need to eliminate this man from our enquiries and ascertain whether these offences are linked to Madeleine's disappearance.

"If you have been a victim of a similar crime please come forward, even if you reported the incident to police in Portugal, or anywhere else. Please do not assume we have been made aware of it.

"While some of these offences have been in the public domain before, following our appeal in October three more were reported to us as a direct result of that appeal. One of those reports we believe is the first in the potential series."

Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley in Leicestershire

Police believe the suspect may have been in the villas for some time before being disturbed by parents or a child waking up - and he remained calm even when interrupted.

The noise of a bin collection lorry was heard nearby on two occasions.

The suspect is described as having tanned skin with short, dark, unkempt hair.

Witnesses say he spoke English with a foreign accent and his voice has been described as slow, or possibly slurred.

On two occasions, in Vale de Parra and Praia da Gale, he was wearing a distinctive burgundy long-sleeve top with a white circle on the back.

Sometimes he was bare chested, displaying what several witnesses describe as a pot belly.

Three victims talked of a noticeable odour.

Portuguese police closed their inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance in 2008 but Scotland Yard opened a new review of the evidence in 2011.

Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was taken

Police are still hunting a man seen carrying a girl fitting Madeleine's description on the night of her disappearance.

DCI Redwood added: "Our appeal last year was very successful and we had over 5,000 calls which generated new information for us and which we continue to investigate.

"We still need to establish the identity of a man seen by three witnesses, carrying a child fitting Madeleine's description towards the beach or town areas at about 10pm on the night Madeleine disappeared.

"The witnesses have described the man in the e-fits as being white, aged in his 30s, with short brown hair, of medium build, medium height and clean shaven.

"The Metropolitan Police Service continues to offer a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the person(s) responsible for the abduction of Madeleine McCann from Praia da Luz, Portugal on 3 May 2007."

Anyone with information should call 0800 0961011 - or +44 207 1580 126 for non-UK residents.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Shapps Ridiculed For 'Patronising' Bingo Tweet

The Tory chairman has been criticised for tweeting a Budget poster hailing beer and bingo cuts a reward for "hard-working people".

Grant Shapps' tweet

In what will be considered a gift to those who claim the Tories are "out of touch", Grant Shapps tweeted: "Budget 2014 cuts bingo & beer tax helping hardworking people do more of the things they enjoy. RT to spread the word."

The tweet also had attached an official Conservative poster carrying the same message in relation to George' Osborne's budget announcement that bingo hall duty would be cut to 10% and there would be 2p off a pint of beer.

The tweet sparked ridicule online

The Welwyn Hatfield MP's tweet sparked a storm of ridicule on Twitter, with many accusing Mr Shapps of "patronising" the working class. A host of take-offs mocking his tweet have also appeared online.

The hashtag #torybingo was trending at one stage, with suggestions for number calling including "Eton's Den number 10" and "Bullingdon mates 88".

Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary of the Treasury, said Mr Shapps had effectively undermined the whole Budget.

"I thought it was a spoof at first, it's just pretty extraordinary. It may be our Budget but it's their words, I think it's rather patronising," he told BBC's Newsnight.

"Also I think it actually demeans some quite sensible things. There are good reasons to be supporting bingo, there are good reasons to be encouraging our pub sector to be stronger - that's the analysis behind those measures."

However, a senior Conservative source said: "We are quite proud of those tax cuts ... We stand by what was said in that advert."

The Chancellor said on Thursday morning: "I think it's patronising to say that it doesn't matter what the price of beer is or it doesn't matter that we don't help our Bingo halls. Because three quarters of the Bingo halls in this country have closed in recent decades.

"These are important Budget measures, they are not the only Budget measures.

"This whole story... was whipped up by a Labour Party that didn't have anything else to say about the economy."

He told BBC Breakfast: "We are communicating what's in the Budget. The more people hear about the Budget the more confident people can be that they are on the right track."

The shadow chancellor Ed Balls said that Mr Osborne must be "frustrated that his head of campaigns puts out an advert patronising working people by saying they'll be happy with a Bingo tax and beer tax. What nonsense that is."

The shadow health secretary Andy Burnham tweeted: "That  reminds me of Mr Cholmondley-Warner when he asked Grayson to investigate the "working class".

Labour MP Tony Perkins condemned the poster as "patronising". In short, it was criticism all round.

Presumably Mr Shapps did not run the poster under the nose of the Conservatives chief strategist Lynton Crosby.

Mr Shapps has only tweeted once since, with a follow-up poster ridiculing Ed Miliband's response. It had fewer retweets but was less controversial.

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Driver Sought In Melanie Hall Murder Probe

Missing Melanie Case: Timeline Of Events

Updated: 8:48am UK, Thursday 03 October 2013

Bones found in a bag near a motorway slip road are those of missing hospital clerk Melanie Hall, according to Sky sources.

Here is a timeline of events since the 25-year-old disappeared.

:: 1996
June 9: Miss Hall goes missing after a night out at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath with her boyfriend of three weeks, German doctor Philip Karlbaum.

Police interview 850 people who were at the club and around 1,250 taxi drivers and mini-cab drivers.

Underwater search units begin a four-week trawl of a one-mile stretch of the River Avon.

June 17: Dr Karlbaum describes his devastation at his girlfriend's disappearance.

November: A reconstruction of Miss Hall's last-known movements is shown on BBC's Crimewatch.

:: 1998
June: Miss Hall's parents Steve and Patricia say they are almost certain she has been murdered as they make a new appeal on the second anniversary of her disappearance.

Mrs Hall says: "Not only has the person responsible deprived us of our daughter's life, but they have deprived us of laying her to rest with the love and dignity she deserves.

"She is out there on her own and we have nothing to grieve over."

:: 1999
August: Police divers search the River Avon again between Cleveland Bridge and Chatham Row after a tip-off from someone who remembered hearing a man and woman argue on the riverbank.

:: 2003
March: Two men from the Bath area, both in their 30s, are arrested over Ms Hall's death and later bailed.

Police spend two weeks searching fields in Inglesbatch village near Bath.

April: Officers appeal for a new witness, believed to be called Shelley, to come forward. The woman was drinking in a Bath pub the night Miss Hall disappeared.

August: The two men arrested in March are released without charge due to lack of evidence.

:: 2004
November 17: An inquest records an open verdict.

Coroner Paul Forrest says there was no explanation for her disappearance but speculates that she was killed soon after she went missing.

Her family make another appeal for information about her final moments.

:: 2006
June: Miss Hall's parents make another appeal on the 10th anniversary of her disappearance.

Mrs Hall said: "We feel somehow that we're running out of time - we would just like an outcome."

Mr Hall said: "You have to try to lock the awfulness of the truth at the back of your mind."

:: 2009
October 5: A workman finds a bag of bones as he is clearing vegetation on the M5 slip road at junction 14, north of Bristol.

October 8: Police confirm the remains have been identified as those of Melanie Hall.

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Online Child Abuse Action 'May Be Inadequate'

Hiring just seven extra full-time staff to track down images of child abuse online may prove "woefully insufficient", MPs have warned.

The move last year to double the existing number of staff came after internet companies were criticised for failing to block illegal images, especially after it emerged the perpetrators of several high-profile child murder cases had viewed such photographs.

The recruitment drive was paid for by money from members of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), including Google, which contributed £1m to the cause.

A Commons committee said the move was a step in the right direction but warned extra resources were needed, particularly among police forces.

"(We are) concerned that seven additional staff might prove woefully insufficient to achieve substantial progress towards what must be an important intermediate goal - the eradication of child abuse images from the open internet," a report from the culture, media and sport select committee said.

There is a "clear need to ensure the police have adequate resources to track down and arrest online paedophiles in sufficient numbers to act as a meaningful deterrent to others", it added.

Jim Gamble, the former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, said each police force should have 10 special constables dedicated to the job - a move that would cost an estimated £1.4m.

The committee's other recommendations include more prosecutions of adult websites that fail to prevent children accessing them.

It also criticised the "flimsy" age verification processes of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

John Whittingdale, chairman of the committee, said: "Today, one in five 12 to 16-year-olds think being bullied online is part of life.

"That, along with the harm done by relatively unfettered access to adult pornography online, represents a failure to protect our children."

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