Alfie Sullock: Baby Killer Gets Nine Years

A man who killed his girlfriend's six-week-old baby by battering him with a shoe and a plastic bottle has been jailed for nine years.

Magistrate's son Michael John Pearce was looking after Alfie Sullock while the boy's mother Donna enjoyed her first night out since giving birth.

Michael John Pearce is the son of a magistrate

"Obsessive" Pearce texted his girlfriend while she was out, telling her Alfie was doing well and that he could be trusted - but he later tried to blame her for the child's death.

Alfie was admitted to hospital with severe bleeding to the brain and bruising to his face and abdomen but died after four days.

A jury cleared Pearce, from Caerphilly, South Wales, of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter.

The killer had denied all wrongdoing throughout his three-week trial at Newport Crown Court.

Judge Mr Justice Baker disputed his defence team's claim that he had a "momentary loss of control", suggesting Pearce may have been motivated by jealousy after Ms Sullock said she was not ready to have a child with him. 

He said: "This was not a momentary loss of control by a sleep-deprived parent. Alfie was only in your care for a short time."

"It may well be that, due to your denials... whether you were motivated by jealousy as a result of Donna's refusal to have your child earlier that evening."

During the course of Pearce's trial, prosecutors said the defendant showed "obsessive" behaviour towards Ms Sullock - and had showered her with gifts just a few weeks into their relationship.

Alfie cradled by his mother Donna Sullock

He suggested the former holiday rep go for a night out on August 16 last year so she could get to know more people in his area.

Ms Sullock said that, when she left the house for her night out, Alfie was "happy and healthy" and did not have "as much as a scratch" on him.

While babysitting Alfie, Pearce sent Ms Sullock a text saying: "You can trust me you know".

But at 9.11pm he dialled 999, after claiming he had gone to the toilet and returned to see Alfie had stopped breathing.

When paramedics arrived moments later, they found the baby lifeless and blue.

Alfie was just six weeks old when he was killed

As the nine-year sentence was handed down, a cry of "disgraceful" was heard from the public gallery.

A jury on Tuesday cleared Pearce of murder but convicted him of manslaughter.

Shortly after the verdict was handed down, Ms Sullock said she had been through "a year of absolute hell".

She told reporters: "Whatever sentence he will get, it will never be long enough for taking Alfie's life away."

Pearce could be released from prison on licence after serving half of his sentence.

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NOTW Journalists Charged With Phone Hacking

Former News Of The World journalists Jules Stenson and Neil Wallis are to be charged with phone hacking, prosecutors have confirmed.

Ex-deputy editor Wallis and Stenson, who was the features editor, will face Westminster Magistrates Court on August 21.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the decision to charge the pair came after new evidence was provided in June.

Both men are accused of conspiring to illegally listen to voicemails between January 2003 and January 2007.

Gregor McGill, a senior lawyer at the CPS, said: "The CPS has authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Jules Stenson, former features editor of the News of the World, and to summons Neil Wallis, former deputy editor of the News of the World, with an offence of conspiracy to intercept communications in the course of their transmission, commonly known as 'phone hacking'.

"These decisions were taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and the DPP's guidelines on the public interest in cases affecting the media.

"We have decided there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest."

Six other journalists who were also held as part of the inquiry have already been told they will face no further action.

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BA To Be Sued Over Pilot Child Abuse Claims

A number of young girls and women are taking British Airways to court over allegations that one of its pilots sexually abused children in African schools and orphanages.

First Officer Simon Wood, 54, died last August after being hit by a train near the Hertfordshire town of Potters Bar.

An inquest into his death found on Wednesday the pilot had killed himself.

Graham Danbury, deputy coroner for Hertfordshire, said: "I'm satisfied that, as a result of having been charged with offences, he was in a state of considerable distress which would have been understandable.

"He felt that his only way out was to take his own life."

The girls and women suing BA claim the airline has responsibility because Wood was working for them when he carried out the alleged attacks during flight stopovers.

BA says the work was outside of his employment with the company

Law firm Leigh Day, representing 16 alleged victims, says Wood molested the girls - some of whom are as young as eight - while on stopovers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

"We allege that Wood was able to abuse the victims by reason of his employment with the airline, in particular through his involvement with the airline's community relations work," said lawyer Nichola Marshall.

"The schools and orphanages that our clients attended were all in receipt of charitable donations from the airline, and Wood played a key role in administering those donations, on behalf of British Airways.

"Our team will be travelling overseas over the coming weeks to meet with other potential victims in Nairobi and Uganda that have come forward more recently."

A British Airways spokesman said: "We were shocked and horrified to hear the allegations against Simon Wood, which appear to relate to his involvement in child-related activities entirely outside the scope of his employment with British Airways.

"Our sympathies are with the victims and it is disappointing that the conduct of one person has caused so much distress to the many thousands of decent people who engage in charitable works on a regular basis."

At the time of his death, Wood had been due to appear in a UK court on separate charges of indecently assaulting a young girl and making indecent images of children.

It was revealed that he was first arrested in November 2001 over an indecent allegation assault but prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to charge him.

Wood was among 20 BA crew members who worked in 2002 as volunteers at a Kenya orphanage.

He said at the time: "We play, sing, organise activities and generally entertain them. We become very close to the children."

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No Appeal Over 'Lenient' Rolf Harris Jail Term

Rolf Harris's jail term for sex offences will not be referred to the Court of Appeal for being too lenient, the Attorney General's office has confirmed.

The veteran entertainer was sentenced to five years and nine months behind bars for 12 indecent assaults against four women earlier this month.

The office of Attorney General Jeremy Wright MP received 150 complaints that the jail term was not tough enough.

A spokeswoman for Mr Wright said it was decided that the Court of Appeal would be unlikely to increase the sentence.

She said: "The Attorney General understands that his decision not to refer the case may be a disappointment to some people.

"However, he did give extremely careful consideration to this sentence and he concluded that he could not refer it.

"The sentencing judge was bound by the maximum sentence in force at the time of the offending.

"The judge made some of the sentences consecutive to reach the total sentence, but he could not simply add up sentences on individual counts.

"The overall sentence had to be just and proportionate to the overall offending.

"The judge was also required to take into account the age of the offender."

The artist and TV presenter's offences took place between 1968 and 1986 against girls aged between seven or eight and 18.

He was prosecuted in line with the laws in place at the time of his crimes - when the maximum jail term for indecent assault was two years, or five years if the victim was under 13.

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Ebola Cure 'A Long Way Off': Facts About Virus

A cure for the deadly ebola virus, which has killed hundreds of people in West Africa, is "a very long way off", an expert has told Sky News.

David Evans, a professor of virology at Warwick University, said ebola is the latest disease to be transmitted "very efficiently" because of international travel.

More than 670 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria have fallen victim to the viral illness, which has a fatality rate of up to 90%.

Those with ebola will often be overcome by a sudden onset of fever, as well as weakness, muscle pain and headaches.

The body is then gripped by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes, kidney and liver problems and bleeding.

Medical staff bring food to patients in an isolation area in Sierra Leone

The time between infection and symptoms appearing is anything from two days to three weeks.

Ebola is spread through the direct contact with the blood, organs or other bodily fluids of those infected.

The liquid that bathes the eye and semen can transmit the disease, Prof Evans said.

Horseshoe bats are believed to be the natural host of the viral disease, he said.

"These bats transmit the virus between themselves, but periodically it then ends up in probably primates or other types of bushmeat which are then hunted by villagers and the virus is then transmitted from the sick animals to humans," he said.

The latest outbreak is centred on four countries in west Africa

Transmission has also been documented through the handling of chimpanzees, gorillas and porcupines.

One of the reasons for the disease's rapid spread is a tradition at burial ceremonies for mourners to have direct contact with the body of the deceased.

"Therefore barrier methods that prevent that direct contact, including things like washing of hands and things like that provide a reasonable level of protection," he said.

Healthcare workers treating patients are particularly at risk.

Public Health England said in a risk assessment published earlier this month said that the current outbreak could increase the risk for Britons working in humanitarian and healthcare delivery.

The first outbreak was recorded in 1976

But the threat to tourists, visitors and expatriates is still considered "very low if elementary precautions are followed".

Prof Evans said there had been "periodic outbreaks" of ebola since the first recorded instances in 1976, but this is the deadliest so far.

There were two simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan and Yambuku, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the Ebola River.

Data from the World Health Organisation shows the previous deadliest outbreak was the one in the DRC, when 280 out of 315 people infected died.

In the same country in 1995 another outbreak claimed 254 lives, with 315 patients infected.

In 2000, there were 425 cases in Uganda and 224 people died.

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Shooting: Ex-Police Officer Faces Murder Charge

A former police officer is to face a murder charge over the fatal shooting of Azelle Rodney in 2005.

The 24-year-old robbery suspect was shot by a police marksman in Edgware, north London, in April 2005.

He was hit six times - four times in the head and once in the arm and back - when the VW Golf he was travelling in with two other men was stopped by police.

The former police officer who is being charged has been granted anonymity and will only be known as E7.

Mr Rodney's mother, Susan Alexander, said: "I am very pleased at the CPS's decision to prosecute the officer who killed my son.

"I have waited a long time to see this day and hope this prosecution will lead to justice for Azelle."

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: "Azelle Rodney died after the discharge of a police firearm on 30 April 2005.

"Following the outcome of the public inquiry, the Independent Police Complaints Commission re-referred the matter to the CPS, providing us with the evidence previously gathered and the further evidence and material which has emerged since the initial referral.

"We have carefully considered the new file of evidence submitted to us and have decided that a former Metropolitan Police officer, currently identified only as E7, will be prosecuted for murder.

"The individual currently has anonymity granted under section 19(2)(b) of the Inquiries Act 2005, made on 16 January 2012 by the chairman of the inquiry.

"The decision to prosecute was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. We have determined that there is a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.

"E7 will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, 10 September 2014."

She added: "Criminal proceedings have now commenced and the individual known as E7 has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings."

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Police Dismiss David Moyes Assault Claim

Lancashire Police have dismissed assault allegations against former Manchester United manager David Moyes.

Moyes, 51, was accused of assaulting 23-year-old builder Josh Gillibrand in a wine bar in Clitheroe, Lancashire in May.

In a statement, police said after "careful consideration" of all the circumstances it was decided that no further action would be taken.

It said: "A thorough investigation has been carried out and everyone identified as having been involved in this incident or having witnessed it have provided accounts to the police.

"All these accounts were given voluntarily, it has not been necessary to arrest any person."

The alleged incident took place at the Emporium Wine Bar in Clitheroe

Moyes was having a drink with a friend in the Emporium wine bar when the "minor scuffle" allegedly took place.

Police said they were called to the venue after reports a local man had been assaulted by a 51-year-old man.

They said there was differing accounts of what took place, although no one was arrested at the scene.

The alleged victim did not require hospital treatment, Lancashire Police said.

Moyes was sacked as Manchester United boss back in April following a disastrous season.

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Usain Bolt Denies Commonwealth Games Slur

Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt has denied making negative comments about the Commonwealth Games.

Bolt was quoted in The Times as calling the event "a bit s***" and saying he was "not really" having fun in Scotland.

Denying the claim, Bolt tweeted: "I'm waking up to this nonsense ... journalist please don't create lies to make headlines."

Manager Ricky Simms waded in to the row, telling BBC Sport the remarks attributed to his client were "utter rubbish".

"The atmosphere in and around the stadiums has been absolutely fantastic and I have absolutely no idea where these quotes have come from," he said.

Bolt met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge earlier in the week

Jamaica sprint teammate Jason Livermore seemed to confuse matters further when, after being asked if Bolt was enjoying Glasgow, said: "I hope so, better than me."

Asked what he meant, Livermore responded: "It's been lovely so far, the people in Scotland are very welcoming, I can't complain. Nice atmosphere, nice crowd, I'm enjoying myself."

Asked how he was coping with the food in the village, Livermore said: "Ooof, sometimes."

Mo Farah and Usain Bolt fool around at the 2012 London Olympics

The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive, Mike Hooper, said: "We take Mr Bolt at his word. We're very pleased with how he's responded and that's our position."

Glasgow 2014 spokeswoman Jackie Brock-Doyle said: "I think he woke up to the story like everyone else. His tweet says it all. He has woken up to something he didn't believe he said yesterday."

The Times newspaper, however, insists its story is true, saying Bolt did make the comments outside the athletes' village on Tuesday.

Bolt taking part in the 2013 Anniversary Games in London

Its Scottish editor, Angus Macleod, said: "We stand by this story 100%. We have utter confidence in this story."

The reporter behind the article tweeted that the "full conversation" would appear in Thursday's newspaper.

Bolt, who arrived in Glasgow on Saturday, confirmed he would compete in the 4x100m relay heats on Friday and the sprint relay final on Saturday, the final day of the athletics competition.

He said he was eager to make his Commonwealth Games debut having missed the Melbourne Games through injury in 2006 and not appearing at the Delhi Games in 2010.

The Jamaican holds the 100m and 200m world records.

His decision to compete this time has given a huge boost to the Games, particularly as other stars such as Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill are absent.

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'Precautions' Taken Amid Ebola Virus Fears

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said it is "most unlikely" that Ebola could spread within the UK but "precautionary measures" have been put in place.

Mr Hammond was speaking after a meeting of the Government's emergency committee, Cobra, to discuss what he earlier called a "new and emerging" threat.

Doctors in Britain have been put on alert to spot symptoms of the deadly disease, which has killed more than 670 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria since February in what is the largest outbreak in history.

Infection results from direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids and tissues of infected animals or people.

Speaking before the meeting, Mr Hammond told Sky News that while there are no cases in the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron regards the disease as a "very serious threat".

UK and European flight routes to the countries affected by ebola

"We are very much focused on it as a new and emerging threat which we need to deal with," Mr Hammond said.

A person from Birmingham was tested for ebola after returning from Africa, but the tests came back negative.

The man was tested earlier this week after reportedly travelling from Benin in Nigeria via Paris to the Midlands.

Another man visited Charing Cross Hospital in London after fearing he had the virus, but doctors decided he did not need an ebola test. 

Dr Brian McCloskey, director of global health at Public Health England (PHE), said the risk to British travellers and workers was low, but doctors needed to be vigilant for "unexplained illnesses" in those who have returned from the affected countries.

Medical staff prepare to bring food to patients in an isolation area

Dr McCloskey said: "The continuing increase in cases, especially in Sierra Leone, and the importation of a single case from Liberia to Nigeria is a cause for concern as it indicates the outbreak is not yet under control."

Those who experience symptoms should "immediately seek medical assistance", Dr McCloskey said.

British Airways, which flies to Sierra Leone and Nigeria, said in a statement it complies with guidance from local health authorities and will "continue to monitor the situation closely".

Cabin crew are advised to contact air traffic control if they see someone on board who they suspect could have the disease.

Countries affected by the ebola outbreak

In 2012, a man with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, which is related to ebola, was flown from Glasgow Airport to London by the RAF to be treated at the Royal Free Hospital in north London.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are well-prepared to identify and deal with any potential cases of ebola, though there has never been a case in this country.

"Any patients with suspected symptoms can be diagnosed within 24 hours and they would also be isolated at a dedicated unit to keep the public safe."

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Eastbourne Pier On Fire As Arcade Catches Light

A fire has erupted at Eastbourne Pier after one of the arcade buildings caught light at the popular seaside resort.

Six fire engines are at the scene battling the blaze after police evacuated scores of tourists and beachgoers from the attraction.

Three lifeboats have also been launched amid reports some people may have leapt from the pier into the sea.

Dave Clarke, a witness, told Sky News: "The front of the pier is totally alight. Smoke is going hundreds of feet into the air and is being blown down the beach. It is totally out of control at the moment.

Crowds look on in shock and awe at the blaze

"There are helicopters overhead and they have closed the roads off down here.

"There are lifeboats to make sure there is nobody stuck at the end of the pier."

He added: "I was just walking along and getting an ice-cream for my boy when I saw smoke coming out the main building.

"People are relatively calm, but shocked."

Some 10 fire engines are at the scene

Chris Caulfield, a guest house owner in the area, said: "It is one of the biggest attractions in Eastbourne.

"It is such a shame that this has happened. It is shocking."

She said the pier was "exceptionally maintained" and "vital" to business in the area.

"People of all ages went onto that pier: It is just going to be devastating when this is gone."

Eastbourne MP Stephen Lloyd, who's office is situated near the attraction, said he hoped the pier, which was built in 1870, was "rescuable".

"if this had happened at night, there can sometimes be upwards of 700-800 young people there, and so thankfully that has happened, but obviously we are looking at a disaster here," said the Liberal Democrat.

"We are praying the fire can be put out before too much damage is done. A good three quarters of the pier, behind the front, looks to be in tact," he added.

More follows...

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