Pregnant Woman Murder: Ex-Boyfriend Jailed

A man who beat his pregnant ex-fiancee to death, causing the death of their unborn baby, has been jailed for at least 27 years.

Unemployed alcoholic Tony McLernon, 24, of North Grove, Harlow, in Essex, was found guilty of murder and child destruction after a trial lasting just over two weeks at Chelmsford Crown Court.

The trial heard he lured Eystna Blunnie, 20, to her death in July last year after telling friends she was trying to ruin his new relationship.

Estyna Blunnie was found dying with her unborn baby in a road

When they met in Howard Way, near her home in Harlow, he jumped on her, kicked her and left her to die in a pool of blood.

Miss Blunnie was due to give birth to a girl within days.

Ordering a minimum tariff of 27 years of a life sentence, Mr Justice Fulford said: "It is undoubtedly the case that he brutally and repeatedly attacked Eystna Blunnie during the course of their relationship.

"He told friends he wanted her significantly harmed or killed. In April he strangled her, causing the baby distress.

"This killing was not the result of an unthinking moment of anger but instead he had contemplated the attack over a long period of time.

"The killing was truly terrible. The horrific screams heard by those nearby show the suffering and pain she suffered and for some period of time she would have been aware of the fatal consequences for herself and her child.

"He has shown not the slightest shred of remorse."

McLernon showed no emotion as he was led from the dock.

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Nani Red Card: Man United Fan Dials 999

A football fan was so outraged with the referee's decision to send off Manchester United's Nani during a Champions League clash with Real Madrid, that he dialled 999.

The 18-year-old Manchester United supporter was watching the second-leg tie at Old Trafford from his home in a village near Bingham, Nottinghamshire, at around 9.20pm on Tuesday when he made the call.

He felt the moment the Reds' Portuguese midfielder was controversially shown the red card by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir for a high challenge on Real's Alvaro Albeloa was a crime and called police.

The fan later apologised for his actions, claiming to have been caught up in the excitement.

Nani reacting to the dismissal as he leaves the field

United, who were leading 1-0 at the time of the dismissal, were reduced to 10 men and went on to lose the tie 2-1 and exited the competition 3-2 on aggregate.

Police are now urging Nottinghamshire residents to think before they dial.

There were 6,933 recorded hoax calls to Nottinghamshire Police in 2012, with calls increasing during holiday periods, particularly in August. This amounted to around 2% of all reported incidents.

Control Room Chief Inspector Ted Antill said: "While this recent example may be amusing, it illustrates the sort of insincere calls we have to deal with on a daily basis in the control room.

"They waste our time and they direct us away from genuine victims of crime, particularly if we dispatch officers out to something that turns out to be a bogus report.

"I would ask people to think before picking up the phone for emergency services. I would also advise parents to ensure your children are aware that prank calls and the reporting of made-up crimes is a crime in itself.

"There may be people out there in real trouble who need our help and they have to wait because we are tied up with calls like this one, reporting a referee from the television.

"It's no joke. In this case, the man realised his bad judgement and apologised and we decided not to pursue it further - but we can and we do prosecute people for wasting police time and making false reports."

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Fan Claims Kate 'Revealed' Sex Of Royal Baby

The Duchess of Cambridge has sparked speculation that she is expecting a baby girl after an apparent slip of the tongue during a trip to Grimsby.

One member of the 2,000-strong crowd has made headlines after saying Kate may have accidentally hinted that she and Prince William are having a daughter.

The exchange happened during Kate's walk-about in the foggy fishing port, when she was handed a teddy bear by 41-year-old Diana Burton.

Sandra Cook, 67, who was standing next to Ms Burton, reportedly heard Kate say: "Thank you, I will take that for my d..." before cutting herself off.

Sandra told reporters: "I leant over and said to her: 'You were going to say daughter weren't you?'.

"She said, 'No, we don't know!'. I said, 'Oh I think you do,' to which she replied: 'We're not telling'."

If correct, the exchange means Britain will have another Queen, as changes to the laws of succession mean even if William and Kate one day have a son, he would not be able to claim the throne ahead of his big sister.

Otherwise Kate was careful not to give any clues, referring to her unborn child as "it" in one exchange.

When asked by a woman: "Can you feel the baby kicking?", the Duchess replied: "Yes. I can feel it kicking."

The Duchess began her visit at the northeast Lincolnshire town's National Fishing Heritage Centre before visting Grimsby's Peaks Lane Fire Station, where she was greeted with more loud cheers from the estimated 200 people who were waiting for her.

One of the women who had been waiting up to three hours to meet her, Claire Moss-Smith, 86, said she had said to the Duchess: "I'm waiting for you to be Queen."

She said Kate laughed and replied: "You might be waiting a long time."

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Sex Attacks On Prostitutes In Manchester

Four prostitutes have been sexually assaulted in the Fairfield Street area of Manchester city centre.

Each victim was attacked separately by a man between 8.30pm and 10.30pm on Tuesday.

Police have launched a probe into what they have described as "serious sexual assaults" on the women.

It is believed the attacks are linked.

Police are appealing for anyone with information about the attacks - or who may have been a victim - to come forward.

They can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A 33-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of serious sexual assault and is currently in police custody.

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Payday Loans: Firms Given Reform Deadline

The UK's biggest payday loans firms are facing the prospect of being put out of business unless they implement swift changes to their practices within 12 weeks.

The ultimatum was issued by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) following a wide-ranging investigation of the controversial sector as it emerged that a separate shake-up would place greater controls on advertising by such firms.

The Government will work with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the industry to make sure advertising does not tempt consumers into taking out payday loans that they cannot afford, and restrict the number of adverts firms put out per hour and the times they can advertise.

Lenders will also be required to make sure that interest rates are clearly displayed.

The OFT carried out checks on 50 major lenders and obtained information from all 240 lenders in the market.

The inquiry uncovered evidence of "widespread irresponsible lending", the OFT said.

It confirmed it was also proposing to refer the payday market to the Competition Commission after finding "deep-rooted problems" in how lenders compete with each other.

The OFT said it had found evidence that the 50 lenders, which account for 90% of the market, were failing to comply with the standards expected and were therefore in danger of losing their licences.

Some of the worst problems identified included lenders not carrying out proper affordability checks before lending or rolling loans over, failing to explain adequately how payments will be collected, acting aggressively to claw back debts and not making enough allowances for struggling borrowers.

Payday lenders are taking a greater presence on UK high streets and online

OFT chief executive Clive Maxwell said: "We have found fundamental problems with the way the payday market works and widespread breaches of the law and regulations, causing misery and hardship for many borrowers.

"Payday lenders are earning up to half their revenue not from one-off loans, but from rolled over or re-financed deals where unexpected costs can rapidly mount up."

The regulator acted after charities reported rocketing numbers of complaints about payday lenders from borrowers.

The Money Advice Trust (MAT) recently said complaints about payday loans have doubled year-on-year to a record 20,000 in 2012.

New regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which will oversee the consumer credit market from next year, will prioritise tighter rules on payday lending that could come into effect from April 2014.

The FCA's rules will be binding and if they are broken it will have tough enforcement powers including imposing unlimited fines and the ability to claw consumers' money back.

The Government is also planning to do more to encourage greater communication within the industry to stop consumers taking out multiple loans from different lenders.

Sajid Javid, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: "The Government is introducing a fundamentally new approach to regulating consumer credit, which will ensure that irresponsible firms and bad practice will have no place in the consumer credit marketplace.

"Consumers can have greater confidence that the new FCA will intervene early and decisively in their interests - thanks to its more focused remit, objectives and powers."

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Barnet: Police Probe Into 'Road Rage' Death

A mother-of two died when she was hit by a car in a suspected road rage attack in Barnet, north London.

Christie McHugh was killed on Monday after she was carried along on the bonnet of a car, fell off and hit a Belisha beacon, one of the lamps on a zebra crossing.

It is understood she got out of her car to argue with another woman driver who had blocked her in at the Lord Kitchener pub car park in East Barnet Road.

She was struck by a car and left injured in the road. The car involved drove away from the scene.

Police and ambulance crews received a call to attend shortly after 6.30pm, and the 33-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

Tributes including flowers and cards have been laid at the spot where Mrs McHugh died.

A post-mortem examination is due to take place on Wednesday.

Her father, John Marriott, who lives in Cambridge, told the Evening Standard: "It is a terrible thing which has happened.

"We are all just totally bewildered. She had two young children. We don't know a thing about the actual incident at the moment.

"She was a lovely, bubbly, popular person. She was known very well around the area and it is a great loss.

"At the moment her husband John is pretty cut up. I can't even get to speak to him, it is that bad."

Officers from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.

They are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information to contact the incident room on 020 8247 7821, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A woman has been arrested in Barnet in connection with the death and released on bail until April.

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Thomas Cook To Cut 2,500 UK Jobs

Holiday firm Thomas Cook says it is planning to axe 2,500 UK jobs to "secure" its future.

It plans to consult on proposals to close 195 of its 1,069 high street travel agencies, with the full details being announced at a later date, though a union representing staff has already spoken of its fury at the scale of the cuts.

It is understood that many of the stores to close operate under the Co-Operative brand.

Thomas Cook is also planning to shut its Accrington office in the North West in a move impacting around 100 roles while administrative and managerial jobs are at risk across its head office in Peterborough and its Preston site.

The job losses amount to 16% of its 15,500 workforce in the UK and Ireland.

In a statement, the company said: "As Thomas Cook UK & Ireland continues to focus on the turnaround of the business it has today entered  a 90 day consultation process with a number of its UK employees on the next phase of the three-year programme to transform its operations.

"The need to evolve the UK business has been a clearly stated goal, accelerated by the appointment of Peter Fankhauser, an experienced Thomas Cook leader as UK CEO.

"The UK business needs to reduce cost to ensure back-office costs are not passed on to customers and that the necessary operational changes are made to reflect evolving customer needs and purchasing requirements."

It continued: "The company has 1,069 stores in the UK, making it the largest high street travel retailer. A number of these stores do not meet the performance targets of the business and are in communities where Thomas Cook has more than one retail outlet."

Mr Fankhauser added: "Thomas Cook is a much loved brand that needs to make the proposed changes to secure our future and provide continued employment for many thousands across the UK and better meet the needs of our customers going forward.

"We firmly believe these proposals will mean a better - more profitable - Thomas Cook that continues to be a major employer in the UK and offer the widest range of holidays for travellers and voyagers in the future.

"We are already consulting with our Unions and employee representative bodies to minimise the impact of these changes and I am speaking personally to all employees today to provide information and support through this period of consultation."

Thomas Cook's transformation plan, under which it had already cut 168 stores and 1,100 jobs, was blamed for deeper losses in its last financial year.

The 171-year-old company reported a statutory loss of £590m for the 12 months to the end of September - worse than the £518m loss recorded the previous year.

Thomas Cook was under pressure to tighten its purse strings at a time of a slowdown in consumer spending and changing holiday habits.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), which represents employees, said it was "shocked and angry" at the scale of the job losses.

General secretary Manuel Cortes said: "This constant policy of slash and burn, with the axing of one in four stores and the loss of jobs, is simply self-defeating.

"The company needs new products if it to come to come to terms with the age of the internet and prosper in the 21st century."

Thomas Cook also confirmed it planned to change staff terms and conditions for remaining workers.

Sharon Ainsworth, national officer of Usdaw, said: "Even those who are not at risk of redundancy are facing the prospect of cuts to their benefits packages, following a number of cost-cutting proposals which the business has put forward.

"We will be examining these proposals closely and will defend our members' interests throughout this uncertain time."

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Eight Men Arrested Over Rape Of Girl Under 16

Police have arrested eight men in east London and Hertfordshire on suspicion of grooming and raping a girl under the age of 16.

The arrests were made after officers went to nine separate addresses in the east London boroughs of Newham, Redbridge and Havering, and an address in Hertfordshire, about 5am on Wednesday.

The detained men are aged between 21 and 24 years, police said in a statement.

The arrests are the result of an investigation launched by detectives following an allegation related to offences committed between May and November 2012.

The eight men are currently being held at an east London police station.

Detective Chief Inspector Adam Lowe from the MPS Sapphire Command said: "These arrests are part of an investigation into rape and serious sexual assault carried out by a group of men in Newham and the wider east London area.

"I would urge anyone who has been a victim of this type of offence or who believes they have any information to please contact police."

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UK To Supply Military Aid To Syria Opposition

The UK is to supply armoured vehicles and body armour to opposition forces in Syria, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.

In a statement to the Commons, William Hague said Britain would increase aid to Syrian opposition forces, including providing "new types of non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians", after EU sanctions had been amended.

He said the UK, along with the National Coalition, was in the middle of trying to identify "the protective equipment that will be of most use to them and likely to save most lives".

"It will certainly include armoured four-wheel drive vehicles to help opposition forces move around more freely as well as personal protection equipment including body armour," he added.

Testing equipment to provide evidence of any use of chemical weapons by the regime and training for armed groups in international human rights and legal standards is also being sent.

Mr Hague said £3m had been allocated this month for the work with another £10m to follow - urging other countries to do the same.

The deadly conflict has been going on since March 2011

"The Cabinet is in no doubt that this is a necessary, proportionate and lawful response to a situation of extreme humanitarian suffering, and that there is no practicable alternative," he said.

"All our assistance will be carefully calibrated and monitored as well as legal, and will be aimed at saving life, alleviating this human catastrophe and supporting moderate groups.

Mr Hague told MPs that the conflict in Syria, where President Bashar Assad is trying to defeat attempts to overthrow his regime, had reached "catastrophic" proportions.

The British Government could not stand aside as Assad used Scud missiles against civilians, Mr Hague said, adding that diplomacy was "taking far too long and the number of dead continues to rise".

The death toll is reported to have reached 70,000 since the fighting began two years ago, with more people having been killed so far this year than during the whole first year of the conflict.

Some 40,000 people were fleeing the civil war each week, many of them children, he added.

There are now more than a million Syrian refugees according to the UN

His speech came as the UN refugee agency revealed official figures showing the number of Syrian refugees leaving their homeland had topped the one million mark.

Mr Hague described it as a "sad milestone".

The Foreign Secretary also warned that there was a danger Syria could become a "top destination for jihadists anywhere in the world".

Meanwhile, there were risks that the Syrian government could use chemical weapons against civilians, he said, telling MPs there was "credible information" that Iran was providing "considerable military support" to Mr Assad.

Sky News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lisa Holland said Mr Hague's announcement marked "a new phase in what Britain is going to do for the opposition".

The effort to try to move forward the stalemate in the Syria crisis follows a visit last week by new US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Speaking in London, he said the Syrian opposition would not be "left dangling" and that Western leaders had "new ideas" on Syria in the face of growing frustration by the opposition over the lack of help they have received.

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Civil Servants To Strike On Budget Day

Civil servants are to stage a strike on Budget day to launch three months of industrial action over pay and conditions.

The Public and Commercial Services union said almost 250,000 workers will take part in a rolling series of walkouts and protests as it steps up its campaign against cuts.

A 24-hour strike will be held on March 20, the day Chancellor George Osborne presents the Budget to Parliament.

Further national stoppages will be held, of varying duration and targeting different parts of the civil service, with dates to be announced at a later stage.

Other forms of disruptive industrial action short of a strike will also be held, and the PCS said it will seek to co-ordinate with other unions on pay and pensions.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "This is not a one-day protest, this is the start of a rolling programme of walkouts and disruptive action to put pressure on a government that is refusing to talk to us.

"Civil and public servants are working harder than ever to provide the services we all rely on but, instead of rewarding them, the government is imposing cuts to their pay, raiding their pensions and trying to rip up their basic working conditions.

"We warned more than two years ago that austerity wouldn't work and we were right. There is an alternative to cutting the living standards of hard-working public servants and our campaign is designed to make the case loud and clear."

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