Author: Henry Caldwell

Three men who lay in wait for a teenage drug runner before stabbing him to death in a west London park have been handed life sentences totalling a minimum of nearly 80 years, after their downfall was sealed by an electronic tag worn by one of the killers. Daniel Matos, 24, Keith Preddie, 34, and Joshua Cowley, 29, were sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday for the murder of 19-year-old Tyler Donnelly, who was knifed in Hanworth Park, Feltham, on the night of 24 January 2024. Matos was ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years and six months,…

A British immigration officer who exploited his position at Heathrow Airport to track Hong Kong pro-democracy activists on behalf of Chinese intelligence has been convicted at the Old Bailey, in a case that has prompted the Foreign Office to summon Beijing’s ambassador to London. Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 40, a Border Force officer and former Royal Navy sailor, was found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act, alongside his handler Chung Biu “Bill” Yuen, 65, a retired Hong Kong police superintendent who managed the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London. Wai was…

British Transport Police have launched an appeal for information after a man allegedly exposed himself and masturbated on a London Underground train in front of fellow passengers. The incident is reported to have taken place at around 5.10pm on Monday 20 April aboard a westbound District Line service. According to officers, the suspect left the train at Upney Underground station in Barking, east London, shortly after the alleged offence. Detectives have now released a CCTV image of a man they wish to identify, in the hope that members of the public may be able to help piece together what happened.…

More than 150 firefighters are battling two major blazes in London on Tuesday night, as the London Fire Brigade (LFB) deals with simultaneous incidents at an office block in Old Street and a residential building in Clapton. According to the London Fire Brigade’s official account on X, twelve fire engines and around 80 firefighters were called to a fire involving a lower floor at an office in Old Street late on Tuesday evening. The brigade urged the public to stay away from the area while crews worked to bring the flames under control. “Please avoid the area whilst crews work…

A man in his twenties is recovering in hospital after being stabbed on Harlesden High Street in the early hours of Sunday morning, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed. Emergency services were alerted shortly before 3.45am on 3 May following reports of a stabbing on the north-west London thoroughfare. When officers arrived alongside paramedics, however, they were unable to locate anyone injured at the scene. The force was subsequently informed that a man had presented himself at hospital with stab wounds. Detectives say his injuries, while serious enough to require treatment, are not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing. CCTV enquiries…

Counter-terrorism detectives have arrested two people in connection with an arson attack on a memorial wall in north London that displays photographs of Iranian protesters allegedly killed by the regime in Tehran. A 46-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were detained at an address in Romford on Monday morning on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life. Both remain in custody at a London police station, while officers continue to search the property where the arrests were made. The pair are being questioned over a fire reported at the memorial in Limes Avenue, NW11, in the early hours of…

The headlines this year have been about Tube strikes, rents and another set of business rates. Underneath all of that, something stranger has happened. London now has the worst unemployment rate in the United Kingdom. And one east London constituency carries a jobless rate three times the national average. If you had told a London journalist five years ago that the capital would soon hold the worst unemployment rate of any UK region, they would have laughed at you. For most of the last twenty years London was the country’s job machine. Graduates from Cardiff and Carlisle came south because…

Two men have been charged with murder following the fatal stabbing of a 24-year-old in Leyton, east London, and are due to appear in court on Monday. Abdullahi Abdi, 24, of Lincoln Street, Leytonstone, and 25-year-old Hanet Ahmed will appear before Thames Magistrates’ Court on April 27 charged with murder, the Metropolitan Police confirmed. The charges relate to the death of Suhayb Abdulkadir, who was fatally stabbed in the early hours of Thursday morning. Officers were called to Saint George’s Road at around 12.40am on April 23 following reports of an altercation involving a group of people. Police attended alongside…

The rent is impossible. Groceries cost double. Services are broken. New laws strip rights that took a century to win. And yet the streets are quiet. Here’s the uncomfortable truth about why. Something has gone very wrong with us, and almost nobody wants to say it out loud. Look around. Prices have detached from wages in a way that would have sparked riots in any previous decade. Healthcare systems, trains, post offices, hospitals — the basic machinery of modern life — work worse every year while costing more. Governments pass surveillance laws, emergency powers, and “public order” acts that would…

Two police cordons have been put in place on Selhurst Road near the South Norwood Clock Tower, with officers on the scene as an incident unfolds on Thursday evening. Photographs taken at the scene show Metropolitan Police officers standing guard beside cordoned-off sections of pavement and road, with a marked police van and patrol car positioned close to Freddy’s, the chicken and burger restaurant on the junction. Police tape has been stretched across the footway, restricting pedestrian access in the area. What is known so far The full circumstances of the incident have not yet been confirmed by the Metropolitan…