One dead, three hurt in robbery
One man was killed and another seriously injured in a robbery at a driver recruitment agency.
The offices, in Pontypool, south Wales, were also set alight in the incident and a further two men at the scene suffered the effects of breathing in smoke.
The agency's offices are based on an industrial estate on New Road, in the New Inn area of the small valley's town.
Emergency services were called to Unit 3 on the estate at 1.25pm.
A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesman said: "Apparently it was a robbery which ended up with the building set alight. One middle-aged male died at the scene. One other male has been conveyed to the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, with serious injuries.
"Two other males suffered from smoke inhalation and have also gone to the hospital."
A hospital spokesman said all three injured men were in a stable condition in the hospital's A and E department.
Gwent Police spokeswoman said: "Gwent Police attended the location and found one male fatally injured, one male seriously injured and two other males with injuries."
A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said they attended following reports of a small fire which was out when they arrived.
A 52-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and false imprisonment.
-Ananova
Father in court over quadbike death
The father of a seven-year-old girl who died following a quadbike crash on Boxing Day was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence after admitting manslaughter.
Gary Cooke, 46, was also banned from riding quad bikes on public roads for two years.
Judge Christopher Ball QC said, during a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court, that Cooke's jail term would be suspended for two years.
The court heard that Cooke's daughter Elizabeth was hit by a Range Rover while riding behind a vehicle driven by her father on a narrow country lane at night near the family home in Blackmore, Essex.
Judge Ball said Cooke had been "grossly negligent" and "stupid".
"I don't suppose I am alone in remembering the shock of hearing the news on the radio when this happened," said the judge. "I don't suppose I was alone in immediately thinking 'what sort of a fool would allow his child out in such circumstances'. It was a moment of great folly and the consequences will remain with you for ever."
The judge said he had received many letters of support from Cooke's relatives and friends.
"You have a positive good character," added the judge. "A history of charitable work and of supporting members of the local community."
The judge also said Cooke had acknowledged his "stupidity" from the outset.
-Ananova
Murder probe father bailed
The father of a 19-year-old woman whose skeletal remains were found in woodland in an East Sussex seaside town has been released on bail.
Children playing in Redgeland Wood in the Queensway area of Hastings, East Sussex, found a skull last Monday and further human remains were later found around the scene.
Medical records were used to identify Victoria Couchman, a single mother who lived with her father, Tony Couchman, about a mile from the woodland where her body was found.
Mr Couchman, 45, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Saturday and was tonight released on conditional bail to return to Eastbourne Custody Centre on November 17.
The initial post-mortem examination has been completed but the cause of death has not yet been established and a number of further forensic tests are being conducted, Sussex Police said.
-Ananova
130mph YouTube biker jailed
A motorcyclist who posted footage of himself performing dangerous stunts and speeding at up to 130mph on internet site YouTube has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Sandor Ferenci, 28, performed wheelies, skids and raced on the opposite side of the road around Banbury, Oxfordshire, and then put the footage on the video-sharing website.
Ferenci was also disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to take an extended driving test before he is allowed on the road again after pleading guilty to two counts of dangerous driving at Oxford Crown Court.
Judge Terence Maher told Ferenci that he had carried out "lunatic and grossly irresponsible manoeuvres at considerable speed".
The court heard that Ferenci, a carer, was spotted performing wheelies on his Yamaha R6 bike on the A422 Banbury to Brackley road on June 10 this year.
Brian Payne, prosecuting, said a motorist saw Ferenci's antics, which caused another driver to have to brake sharply, and took down his registration number.
He later contacted police, who traced Ferenci to his home in Fulwell Close, Banbury.
The court heard that when officers called at his home, before they had a chance to say anything to him, Ferenci asked them: "Is this about the YouTube video?"
Police then discovered that he had posted the video clips of himself on the internet.
The footage, which was played to the court, had been filmed by a friend from various angles including from a footbridge.
-Ananova
Motorway crash resembled 'war zone'
A family of six were killed when their car exploded after a motorway crash that resembled a war zone.
Ten-week-old Elouise Statham and her 20-month-old brother Nafon were killed with their brothers Reece, 13, and Jay, 9, and their parents David, 38, and Michelle, 33
The couple and their four children were returning from a day away when they were involved in a five vehicle pile-up on the M6 in Sandbach, near Cheshire.
A 46-year-old Portuguese man - who passed a breath test following the crash - was being held on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
The family were travelling between junctions 16 and 17 on the northbound carriageway when the tragedy happened.
Officers spoke of the aftermath resembling a war zone.
Cheshire Police confirmed the dead were two parents and four children who lived in Llandudno, north Wales. Both sets of parents of the dead couple come from Birmingham where the family had visited before the tragedy, police said.
The family car was so mangled that officers investigating the crash initially thought five bodies were inside. It was several hours later before confirmation came that a "very small" child was also in the car.
Investigators had to use the chassis number to trace the family through vehicle records. Police said the car had gone under the truck - belonging to a Spanish firm - and burst into flames.
Speaking near the scene of the tragedy, Cheshire Police roads inspector Brian Rogers said the carnage was so bad that fire, police and ambulance crews would need counselling. He said: "In civilian life it is the nearest thing you would ever come to a war zone."
-Ananova
Seven arrested over 'holiday fraud'
Seven people were arrested at Gatwick airport following an investigation into fraudulently-booked holidays, police said.
The three men and four women, all from Kent and the south east London area, were arrested at the airport in West Sussex on Monday.
Officers from both Kent and Sussex Police made the arrests after an investigation by Kent Police's Serious Economic Crime Unit into reports of fraud involving holidays booked to Jamaica paid for using compromised credit cards.
A Kent Police spokeswoman said the three men and four women have been bailed pending further investigation until January.
A further 38 passengers were not allowed to board their scheduled flight.
A 26-year-old woman was arrested in Aylesford in connection with the investigation and has also been bailed pending further investigation until January.
-Ananova
Police officer denies 'cover-up'
A senior police officer tampered with evidence just over an hour after his boss was cross-examined at the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, it was claimed.
But the Special Branch surveillance officer, named as Owen, denied allegations he was part of a "cover-up" as he returned to the witness box.
Owen is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission after last week admitting removing a line from his notes during proceedings.
The deleted line claimed Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick said the suspect could "run onto Tube as not carrying anything".
As Owen, flanked by his lawyer, was recalled to the inquest, he was asked by Michael Mansfield QC, for the de Menezes family, if he had attempted to hide the changes he had made.
He replied: "That's incorrect sir."
He also said he was not under pressure from "management" to change his notes.
He added: "I wasn't getting concerned sir and no-one expressed concerns to me from management, if that is what you are getting at."
Mr Mansfield said computer records showed Owen had edited his notes at "11.52GMT" on October 7.
Mr Mansfield said the notes were edited less than an hour-and-a-half after Ms Dick was questioned about Scotland Yard's policy of letting suspects on to the Underground.
-Ananova
Osborne under fire in donation row
George Osborne was facing a fight for survival amid claims that he approached a Russian billionaire for an illegal £50,000 donation.
The shadow chancellor was forced on the defensive after the explosive allegations were made by Tory-supporting banking heir Nathaniel Rothschild - a friend from Oxford.
Mr Osborne tried to shore up his position by issuing a detailed account of his holiday dealings with controversial oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
He admitted being present, with top Conservative fundraiser Andrew Feldman, when a potential donation was discussed at Mr Rothschild's Corfu villa. But he denied that either he or Mr Feldman had "solicited" a gift, and stressed that the Tory Party eventually dismissed the possibility as "inappropriate".
The dispute was threatening to escalate, with Mr Rothschild said to be furious that his former fellow student was questioning the truth of his account.
Allies of Mr Deripaska also weighed in against Mr Osborne's implication that he initiated talk of a donation, insisting that the billionaire "has never donated to any political party in Britain and he has no intention of doing so".
The row was sparked when Mr Rothschild wrote a letter to The Times revealing that Mr Osborne and Mr Feldman spent time on Mr Deripaska's yacht off Corfu, and claiming they tried to "solicit a donation" from him. Mr Feldman subsequently suggested that money could be "channelled" through one of the oligarch's British companies, according to Mr Rothschild.
Under UK electoral law, parties are banned from accepting gifts from individuals not registered to vote in the UK, whether directly or through "proxies".
Speaking to journalists outside Conservative HQ, Mr Osborne said: "I was invited on to Mr Deripaska's boat on two occasions by a mutual friend. The first occasion I was with Peter Mandelson; the second occasion I was with Andrew Feldman.
"On both occasions we went for a drink; on both occasions it lasted about an hour; on both occasions we neither asked for any money, we didn't solicit a donation and we didn't receive any money subsequently."
-Ananova
Parents appeal after youth stabbed
The parents of a 16-year-old boy stabbed to death after a gang attack spoke of their devastation as they appealed to mothers of the culprits to come forward.
Joseph Lappin died after he and two friends were attacked by up to 15 youths outside the Shrewsbury House Youth Club in Everton, Liverpool, on Monday night.
His mother Toni Lappin, speaking at a press conference with her husband John by her side, said: "The events of the last 24 hours have left us devastated. We have lost our son and his younger brother and sister have lost the person they looked up to."
She added: "As a mother I would appeal to all the mothers of those involved - understand our grief, come forward."
An emotional Mrs Lappin said: "Joseph was a lovely lad, our son and the centre of our family.
"He went out last night with friends like teenagers across the country and because of the events of last night he won't be coming back to us."
She added that Joseph, an army cadet for three years, had never been in any trouble and after leaving school in the summer had been planning to join the Army.
Mrs Lappin went on: "We believe that there was a large group involved in what happened last night."
She told the families of those involved in the attack that they had the "power to do the right thing" and "to make sure another family doesn't have to go through what we are going through now".
-Ananova
