Author: Henry Caldwell

Five men have been convicted at the Old Bailey of murdering a 21-year-old who was hunted down and stabbed to death in south London last spring, in what detectives described as a sustained group attack born of escalating tensions between rival groups. Giovanny Rendon Bedoya was killed in Walworth on the evening of 14 April 2025. After an 11-week trial, jurors on Tuesday returned guilty verdicts against all five defendants, who will return to court for sentencing on 20 May. What happened on Hillingdon Street The Metropolitan Police were called shortly after 9.16pm on the evening of the killing to…

Detectives have launched an urgent search for two masked men after an attempted firebombing of a synagogue in Finchley, the latest in a run of incidents that has left Jewish community leaders warning of a deepening climate of intimidation. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that officers were called to Finchley Reform Synagogue shortly after 1am, where two bottles believed to contain petrol, along with a brick, were thrown at the building by suspects wearing balaclavas. The attempt caused no damage and no one was hurt. Counter-terrorism officers have joined the investigation, which is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime. What…

Commuters across the capital are bracing for fresh disruption on the London Underground next week, as drivers belonging to the RMT union prepare to stage four days of strike action in a dispute over working patterns. What passengers can expect The walkouts will take place in two 24-hour blocks. The first begins at midday on Tuesday 21 April and runs until 11:59am on Wednesday 22 April. A second strike follows from midday on Thursday 23 April until the same time on Friday 24 April. Transport for London has said services are likely to run normally during the mornings of each…

A man who fatally stabbed a woman inside her Croydon flat and then inflicted a wound on himself in an attempt to pass the killing off as self-defence has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 19 years. How the case against Simon Ghebremedhin was built Simon Ghebremedhin, 34, of Streatham High Road, was sentenced on Tuesday for the murder of 26-year-old Marjama Osman. The killing took place on 31 May last year at Ms Osman’s home on Frith Road. Emergency services were alerted after a passer-by came across her lying unconscious on the pavement outside the property.…

Three men from south-east London have been sentenced to a total of 29 years in prison for the rape and sexual exploitation of a 14-year-old girl, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police that saw all three arrested and charged within ten days of the offence being reported. The sentences were handed down at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday 10 April, three months after the men were convicted in January of offences including rape, sexual assault, trafficking and the creation of indecent images of a child. Each has also been placed on the sex offenders register for life. What the…

A 27-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Finbar Sullivan, the London film student fatally stabbed at one of the capital’s best-known beauty spots earlier this week. Oluwadamilola Ogunyankinnu, of Southbury Road in Enfield, was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers on Friday and formally charged on Sunday. He is expected to appear before Stratford Magistrates’ Court on Monday. What police have said about the investigation Mr Sullivan, who was 21, was discovered with knife injuries close to the viewing platform at Primrose Hill in north London on Tuesday. A second man in his twenties was found a short…

What unfolded in Trafalgar Square More than 200 people have been arrested in central London during a large demonstration against the government’s ban on Palestine Action, with the Metropolitan Police saying officers were detaining those who showed support for the proscribed organisation. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square for the event, which organisers had named “Everyone Day” and billed as a show of “unwaning resistance to the ban on Palestine Action”. Many carried placards bearing the slogan “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”, a message that has featured prominently at previous rallies linked to the group. Other signs…

What detectives have confirmed about the case A 16-year-old boy from Romford has been charged with the murder of Eghosa Ogbebor, the 14-year-old who was shot dead in south-east London last week, the Metropolitan Police have announced. Eghosa was attacked on Lord Warwick Street in Woolwich, with officers called to the scene at around 3.40pm on Thursday 2 April. Despite the efforts of paramedics and police, he was found with severe injuries and pronounced dead where he lay. In the immediate aftermath, officers were unable to confirm his identity and initially referred to him as an adult. The teenager now…

What happened on the Southend serviceA 50-year-old man from Peckham has been convicted of a string of serious sexual offences after carrying out what detectives have described as one of the worst attacks of its kind they have investigated, against a 13-year-old girl travelling alone on a train into the capital.Abdulmanon Aliev, a Tajikistan national, was found guilty at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday of two counts of assault by penetration, three of sexual assault and one of attempted rape. He is due to be sentenced at the same court on 17 June.The attack took place on the afternoon…

What councillors have signed off Plans for the long-running redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks have been reshaped once again, with Westminster City Council approving changes that will see as many as 515 homes built on the site rather than the 448 originally agreed more than a decade ago. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, councillors gave the green light to a significant revision of the scheme in the hope of coaxing the developer, Qatari Diar, into completing a project that has been repeatedly held up. The most visible change involves the fifth phase of the build, where 20 townhouses previously…