Pensioner Accused Of Double Shooting Remanded

An elderly man accused of murdering his partner and her daughter at a puppy farm in Surrey has been remanded in custody after appearing in court.

John Leo Lowe, 82, was arrested and charged after police were called to Keepers Cottage Stud in Farnham on Sunday.

The bodies of Christine Lee, 66, and her daughter Lucy, 40, were discovered at the property, along with four dead dogs.

Lowe faces two counts of murder and a charge of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

He appeared in court in Guildford wearing a navy sweatshirt and jogging bottoms and was told he would remain in custody until the next hearing on March 18.

The killings happened near the Surrey town of Farnham

In the first of two hearings on Wednesday, the accused was helped into his seat by a security guard while a family member called out from the public gallery: "Why? Why? I love you. Why? Why? Why?"

Asked to confirm his name, he told the court clerk: "I'm a little bit deaf, dear."

No application was made for bail.

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Live Updates: Lee Rigby's Killers Sentenced

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3:28pm UK, Wednesday 26 February 2014

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Peter Robinson In Hyde Park Bomb Quit Threat

Peter Robinson has threatened to quit if there is no review of the guarantee given to suspected Hyde Park bomber John Downey that he will not face prosecution.

Downey, 62, received a letter of assurance from the Northern Ireland Office which led to the collapse of a case against him this week.

Mr Robinson - First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly - said he was "kept in the dark" by the British government.

"I have to say quite frankly that I am not prepared to be the First Minister of a government that is kept in the dark on matters that are relevant to what we are doing," he said.

"That is not acceptable to me. I want to have a full judicial inquiry into who knew what, when they knew it and exactly what they did know at the time.

"I also want to ensure the letters that have been sent out are rescinded."

The aftermath of the attack in July 1982

However, Defence Minister Anna Soubry, a former barrister, said there was no chance of a judicial review.

"You can't judicially review the decision," she said. "You can appeal it, the prosecution can appeal it. The Crown Prosecution Service has taken the view that these are not the right circumstances to appeal it.

"So, with great respect to Peter Robinson, who is quite right to be very angry, we are in a very, very unpleasant situation and, unfortunately, I cannot see any way back from where we are now."

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, David Cameron described the case as a "dreadful mistake".

The PM also called for a review into why the letter - which wrongly stated that Downey was not being sought by British police - was sent.

Convicted IRA member Mr Downey, of County Donegal, in fact had an outstanding warrant against him when he received the letter in 2007.

Mr Cameron told MPs: "We should be absolutely clear: the man should never have received the letter that he received.

"Of course, that is absolutely shocking.

"I completely understand the depth of anger and concern that people will feel right across this country about the appalling events that happened in 1982 and the fact the person responsible is now not going to be appropriately tried."

Alleged bomber John Downey

The IRA attack killed four members of the Household Cavalry and seven of their horses in July 1982.

The victims' families have said they feel "devastatingly let down" by this week's developments.

Mr Robinson will meet Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers to discuss the case.

Ms Villiers acknowledged in Parliament the "very serious implications" the case's collapse could have on stability in the country.

Nigel Dodds, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Westminster,  warned of "outrage" sweeping the UK.

"The words of devastation from the families of the soldiers concerned in the Hyde Park bombing are an indictment of what is going on," he said.

"There is outrage right across the country, not just in Northern Ireland, but right across the country about this. How an official's letter can trump due process of law in this country.

"This has very serious implications for devolution."

Meanwhile, DUP MP William McCrea has asked Attorney General Dominic Grieve to clarify who else has received letters of assurance.

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Cyclist Causes Chaos On M25 Rush Hour Ride

A cyclist caused travel chaos when he chose to pedal along Britain's busiest motorway during rush hour while following a sat nav app on his phone.

He ended up cycling for several miles on the southern section of the M25 in Surrey.

Drivers tweeted about the man as they were caught up in long hold-ups on the motorway.

One police officer tweeted that the cyclist had been seen between junctions 12 and 13 of the motorway. He was eventually removed and given a £50 fine.

The man cycles across slip roads at junctions along the motorway

One tweet said: "A male was looking for a shorter route to cycle home from work. Phone app sent him on motorway so thought it OK."

Another read: "Nice chap but unaware of the rules of the road, believed it OK to ride/walk on hard shoulder - struggled to see why not.

"Genuine mistake I'm sure but could have stopped at bottom of slip road! Most children know not to stray on to a motorway."

He was fined £50 and removed from the motorway

Sergeant Phil Dix, from Surrey Police roads policing unit, said: "The cyclist was apparently taking a short cut home and was following a satellite navigation system on his mobile phone.

"It is extremely fortunate that there was a safe outcome and that the cyclist was not injured, or worse - especially as he had crossed several slip roads coming off the motorway."

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Co-op Hits 6,500 Staff With Job Uncertainty

The Co-operative Group has confirmed it may sell its pharmacy business, employing 6,500 staff, as part of its strategic review.

It is also looking to offload 15 farms it owns, which have an estimated land value of £49m.

The review - ordered in the wake of the financial crisis at its bank - is yet to be completed.

But a short statement on Wednesday said: "As part of the wider strategic review of all of its businesses, The Co-operative Group has decided that its farms are non-core and has started a process that is expected to lead to a sale of the business.

"In addition, it is exploring options for the future of the pharmacy business; this could include the sale in whole or part of the business."

The Co-op's Blairgowrie farm is one of 15 sites

The Co-op operates 15 farms, three in Scotland and the rest in England, covering 50,000 acres in total with an estimated land value of hundreds of millions of pounds.

The division also owns three packing sites.

They are seen as surplus to requirements because the cereals and vegetables they produce only make up a small proportion of produce for Co-op supermarkets.

The chemists business, which operates out of 750 outlets, has suffered in recent times amid Government attempts to reduce its prescription costs.

The group ordered the strategic review after a huge £1.5bn capital black hole emerged in its banking arm, resulting in control passing to bondholders including US hedge funds.

The problems at the bank are currently subject to a number of inquiries.

The scandal also brought the appointment of Paul Flowers, now ex-chairman of the bank, into the spotlight amid questions about his lack of banking experience.

Just nine days ago the Co-op Group launched an online poll to help shape its future, admitting the mutual had lost touch with its customers and members.

Group chief executive Euan Sutherland said it would listen to suggestions and the results would feed into the strategic review.

The Co-op operates a wide variety of businesses, including supermarkets and funeral services.

Its 2013 results - due to be released in late March - are expected to confirm growing losses.

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Cameron Criticised On Flood Defence Spending

The boss of the country's biggest insurance firm, Legal & General, has told Sky News he is concerned about a lack of spending on flood defences.

As the industry faces Government pressure to pay out quickly on the costs of the winter storms, Nigel Wilson also spoke out against policy on home building in flood-prone areas.

He said: "We've had a housing policy that has encouraged too much building in flood plains area. And we've been on and on about this.

"There's an issue in the UK. We're not building enough and where we're building them is in the wrong place.

"So we've got a multi-phased approach in actually increasing housing supply.

L&G is facing a multi-million pound flood bill

"The Government needs to focus much more attention on housing supply and where that supply is."

He was speaking hours after David Cameron's boast that flood defence spending will increase under his leadership was contradicted by the UK's statistics watchdog, which claimed the budget had actually been cut by £250m.

Sir Andrew Dilnot, head of the UK Statistics Authority, called on the Government to publish its real-term figures "in the public interest."

Mr Cameron claimed at Prime Minister's Questions that spending between 2011 and 2015 would be higher than in the previous four years under Labour.

The results of the wettest winter on Met Office records

But Labour leader Ed Miliband accused him of using "phoney figures".

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson went further, saying the Government is "providing more than any previous government in this spending review".

The discrepancy stems from the Government including money spent by private firms and other third parties in its figures.

Flood defence spending was £2.37bn between 2007 and 2011, according to House of Commons library figures.

The Army was called in to help tackle the rising waters

Between 2011 and 2015 it will be £2.34bn - a £247m cut in real terms.

Sir Andrew believes the House of Commons numbers are more credible than those being stated by Mr Cameron and his colleagues.

He said: "We agree with their finding that, as of January 2014, government funding for flood defences was expected to be lower in both nominal and real terms during the current spending period than during the last spending period.

"Our analysis also supports the conclusion that the statement 'over the current spending review period, more is being spent than ever before' is supported by the statistics if the comparison is made in nominal terms and includes external funding, but is not supported by the statistics if the comparison is made in real terms or if external funding is excluded."

Labour and Friends of the Earth say the cuts contributed to the damage endured across swathes of the country this winter - and the issue will be debated by MPs on Wednesday.

Mr Paterson has already apologised for "any offence" caused by his flood defence spending claims, but denied there had been any "manipulation of figures".

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Figures on flood defence spending are published. The Government is spending £2.4bn on flood management and protection from coastal erosion which is more than ever before.

"The Prime Minister also recently announced £130m extra for flood defence repairs following the extreme weather."

All this comes as the Institution of Civil Engineers called on Chancellor George Osborne to use next month's  Budget to return spending on flood risk management to pre-2010 levels.

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Woolwich: Lee Rigby Murderers Being Sentenced

The two men who murdered soldier Lee Rigby are being sentenced at the Old Bailey.

Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, ran the soldier down before hacking him to death in Woolwich last year.

The pair were convicted of the murder in December, but Mr Justice Sweeney delayed sentencing until after a key appeal court ruling last month that whole-life tariffs can be used by UK judges.

As sentencing began, Adebolajo refused to stand as his name was read out and Adebowale remained seated to confirm name.

Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered last May

Victim impact statements were read out to the court, including one from Lee's widow, Rebecca Rigby.

"I was also suddenly living in the public gaze," she said.

"I couldn't go anywhere or do anything. I felt like I didn't want to go on. I saw people nudging and looking at me if i walked down the street.

"I know my son will grow up and see images of his dad that no son should have to endure and there's nothing I can do to change this."

Adebolajo's barrister, David Gottlieb, told the court: "However shocking and terrifying a crime, a whole-life term can never be justified when the full circumstances of the offence known at the time ... show that the offender is not so deprived of all human dignity that he has no possibility of atonement in the future."

An EDL supporter stands next to a replica hangman's noose outside the court

He compared Adebolajo's extremist views to "alcoholism" or a severe "psychiatric" illness.

"Whatever his expressed views or wishes, he's not somebody who's incapable of change," he added.

Abbas Lakha, Adebowale's defence barrister, said his client's psychiatric condition should be taken into account in his sentencing.

He argued Adebowale played a "lesser role" in the killing and that he was a passenger in the car - which he said he did not know was going to be driven at Fusilier Rigby.

Heated protests took place outside the court, with one group heard chanting: "There's only one Lee Rigby."

During their trial, Adebowale, from Greenwich, south-east London, offered no evidence in his defence, but Adebolajo, from Romford, Essex, gave a rambling testimony during which he told the jury he loved al Qaeda.

He claimed the pair were "soldiers of Allah" and had carried out the killing as revenge for abuse of Muslims abroad.

More follows...

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Brooks-Coulson Relations 'Strained' Over Beckham

Rebekah Brooks has told of how her relationship with ex-lover Andy Coulson became "complicated" as they each chased David Beckham stories for rival papers.

Brooks began editing The Sun in 2003 while co-defendant Coulson took over from her at the News Of The World, jurors at the hacking trial heard.

Giving evidence for a fourth day at the Old Bailey where she is standing trial for conspiring to hack phones, Brooks told how she had lunch with Victoria Beckham as the stories about her husband's alleged affair were afoot.

"The two papers were rivals and pretty strong rivals. I think Andy and I had been very good at keeping the Chinese Wall," she told the central London court.

Brooks told the trial she would occasionally meet Victoria Beckham

"It was a hostage to fortune discussing what we were working on. He was on the weekly, I was on the daily with more opportunity to publish.

"Beckham is a good example. So Andy would have known that I knew the Beckhams a little socially, we are not close friends but would see them occasionally for dinner. I was also trying to get Victoria or David to do things for the paper.

"He would know I had direct access to them so if he is working on a story and there is something afoot as the paper was working on the fact David Beckham was allegedly having an affair with a woman, to even mention that to me could be fatal to his paper.

"He would not know the day he mentioned it I had lunch with Victoria.

"So he may say on Thursday 'we will have the Beckham story this weekend' and I may respond 'sorry we are doing it tomorrow'. It was too complicated. Things were difficult, it was strained for a while."

The 45-year-old, from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, denies conspiring to hack telephones, conspiring to commit misconduct in public office, and conspiring to cover up evidence to pervert the course of justice.

All seven defendants on trial deny the charges against them.

David Blunkett and Kimberly Quinn

The court also heard Brooks had a "strong professional relationship" in 2004 with then home secretary David Blunkett after the pair worked together on campaigns.

Asked if she knew whether his voicemails had been hacked that year, Brooks replied: "Absolutely not."

She told the court Coulson contacted her the night before the NotW published a story on Mr Blunkett's alleged affair with a woman.

Her team at The Sun went "full steam ahead with the full name" of the woman as Kimberly Quinn in an exclusive story the next day, the court heard.

The trial continues.

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Mid Staffs NHS Trust To Be Dissolved, Says Hunt

The NHS trust where hundreds of patients were found to have died needlessly will be dissolved, the Health Secretary has said.

Jeremy Hunt announced Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospitals would retain 90% of patient visits but they would now be operated by neighbouring NHS trusts.

In a partial victory for campaigners supporting Stafford Hospital, Mr Hunt suggested it could keep its consultant-led maternity service depending on an NHS England review.

It was initially recommended the maternity unit should close and then that it should be downgraded to a midwife-led unit.

Up to 1,200 people were found to have died unnecessarily at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2008 in one of the biggest NHS scandals.

An inquiry into the number of deaths at the hospital carried out by Robert Francis QC last year found there had been "appalling and unnecessary suffering of hundreds of people".

Frank Robinson's son John died after misdiagnosis at Stafford Hospital

Patients there were found to have been left in their own faeces, given the wrong medication and were so thirsty they drank water from flower vases.

The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust has been in administration since April and administrators had recommended to Mr Hunt that it was neither clinically nor financially viable.

In his statement Mr Hunt said: "Local people suffered too much for too long under a system which ignored appalling failures of care in their local hospital.

"They now deserve to know that same system has learned the lessons and is guaranteeing high-quality, safe services for local people. The proposals I am accepting today will provide just this."

He added: "I want Stafford to be a proper district hospital that continues to meet the needs of patients nearby, including for emergency care and births."

Stafford Hospital will now be under the control of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire and Cannock will be run by the Royal Wolverhampton Trust.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

Sue Hawkins, of campaign group Support Stafford Hospital, said of the proposal to keep consultant-led maternity services: "Well, it's something - it's a start.

"What I would say is that you can apply equally the same argument of patient safety used to justify that re-think to paediatric care, so we would ask for the downgrade of paediatrics to be re-considered as well."

She said that because of the scrutiny in the wake of the scandal, Stafford Hospital had now become one of the safest and best in the country.

Heath union chiefs said it was vital neighbouring trusts were given the finances to deal with the new responsibilities to provide care at the hospitals.

Christina McAnea, head of health for Unison, said: "It is bitterly disappointing for the local community who have campaigned for local services and have rallied behind the hospital, as well as for staff who have worked hard to turn the trust around.

"The facts show that patient care has improved massively and the staff survey, released only yesterday, showed that 73% would now be happy with the standard of care at the hospital if a friend or relative needed treatment - higher than the 65% national average."

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Attorney General Looks Into Punch Jail Sentence

The Attorney General is considering referring to the Court of Appeal a jail sentence over a punch which left a man dead.

The four-and-a-half-year sentence, handed down to Lewis Gill, 20, from Bournemouth, may have been unduly lenient, Attorney General Dominic Grieve's office said, after receiving complaints.

Only one complaint is required to trigger the process.

Mr Grieve has until March 21 to decide whether or not to refer the case.

Lewis Gill, from Sutton, Surrey, pleaded guilty to manslaughter

Andrew Young, 40, died after falling to the ground when he was punched by Gill in November last year.

Gill was an acquaintance of the cyclist to whom Mr Young spoke about riding on the pavement.

CCTV cameras recorded the attack outside a Tesco Metro store, with the footage showing Mr Young talking to the cyclist and then being punched by Gill as the cyclist walked away.

Mr Young, who suffered from Asperger's syndrome, died the next day in hospital.

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

Mr Young's mother, Pamela, told the Dorset Daily Echo that her son's illness 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 said.

She wished the "awful man" had pleaded not guilty so he could have faced a longer sentence after a trial, she added.

Detective Inspector Marcus Hester, of Dorset Police Major Crime Team, said: "This was a violent attack on an innocent man which had a tragic outcome.

"This case shows that violence does not resolve anything and can have far-reaching consequences not imagined at the time.

"Criminal behaviour such as this will not be tolerated and we are committed to bringing offenders to justice." 

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