Where can we read Yvonne Hartley’s take on the Virginia and Anji Greaves saga?
And what does she say re: the drug/date rape of the girl from the Chequers public house?
I’d also like to hear from Philip Walker and Yvonne Hartley on Ibraheem Abdullah - aka convicted/exonerated killer Dwaine George
And what does ‘patron’ Dennis Eady say about the violent Manchester gang member who claimed to be ‘reformed’?
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https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/operation-venetic-drug-smuggler-convicted-over-20-kilo-cocaine-seizureDoes anyone remember Dennis Eady from the BBC’s ‘
Law in Action - Protecting the Innocent’ from 2015
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b051s2bt‘
Dwaine George was sent to prison in 2001 for murder. Aged 18 and a member of a Manchester gang, he was convicted for shooting dead another 18-year-old and sentenced to life imprisonment. But Dwaine George said he didn't do it and continued to protest his innocence throughout the 12 years he eventually served. He was finally vindicated by the Court of Appeal shortly before Christmas, when his conviction was quashed. Dwaine George wasn't the only person celebrating that day. Crammed into court for the appeal hearing had been a group of students and lecturers from Cardiff Law School. The law school runs an Innocence Project, where students take up alleged miscarriages of justice. There are more than 30 such projects at universities all over the country. The Dwaine George case was the first case in the UK brought by an Innocence Project to be successfully appealed. In this week's Law in Action Joshua Rozenberg goes to Cardiff to meet the people who made this happen. He hears about the years of work that went into their investigation, and the further years of waiting after the appeal was filed in 2010. And he hears about their euphoria and relief when the email finally came through that the Court of Appeal had quashed the conviction. But is the system that is designed to guard against miscarriages of justice working properly? There are plenty of lawyers who say it isn't. Parliament's Justice Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the effectiveness of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), through which all appeals for wrongful conviction must go. The commission's chairman Richard Foster gave evidence to the committee on February 3rd and will be in the Law In Action studio to debate the issue with Joshua Rosenberg and others.
Operation Venetic ⬇️
https://news.sky.com/story/operation-venetic-police-catch-hundreds-suspected-of-leading-secret-criminal-lives-by-cracking-codes-12019558‘Police have arrested hundreds of suspected top-tier criminals involved in murder, gun smuggling and drug trafficking after infiltrating their encrypted phone system.
In an operation led by the UK's National Crime Agency, investigators say they have seized £54m in cash, two tonnes of cocaine, 77 firearms including assault rifles, sub-machine guns and grenades and prevented contract killings.
Many of the targets are said to have considered themselves "untouchable" - posing as respectable, wealthy tycoons with lifestyles built on the profits of legitimate businesses.
One source said: "Many were seen by friends and neighbours as pillars of society, but in reality were leading secret, glamorous lives they thought would go on forever."
Every police force in Britain was involved in Operation Venetic, which was launched in April after analysts managed to infiltrate the secretive Encrochat mobile telephone system used by organised criminals around the world.
The system which was hosted in France was taken down during the police operation.
Users paid £1,600 a month for a bespoke Encrochat handset which offers a highly encrypted communication platform.
The NCA says there were 60,000 users around the world and 10,000 in the UK, all of them suspected criminals.
Organised crime gangs used Encrochat to underpin their operations, swapping images of guns and drugs for sale and building in codes and timers that wiped data automatically.
The NCA said some law enforcement officers - fewer than ten - were among those arrested after being "compromised" in intercepted messages.
The Metropolitan Police played a key role, arresting 132 suspects and seizing £13m in cash and 14 firearms including Scorpion sub-machine guns.
In one dawn raid, officers used specialist counter-terror firearms officers and stun grenades to arrest a dangerous suspect involved in firearms and major drug trafficking.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said: "This is an amazing moment. We've known for ages that some organised criminals we have dealt with over the years but have never been able to bring to justice for the most serious offences, have been turning to encrypted devices they thought were completely impenetrable.
"They thought they were never going to get caught and were able to use those devices without worry and this shows that law enforcement will be able, in the future, wherever you hide to come after you. These people have been hiding for far too long.
"So this is just the beginning. We have arrested large numbers of people. We have many more to arrest and we will be disrupting organised criminal networks as a result of these operations for weeks and months and possibly years to come.
"I think it is a game changer because it shows people that you need to be very frightened because we may already be after you now on the basis of what you have been doing."
The operation involved law enforcement agencies across Europe and is thought to be the biggest ever against organised crime groups.
One gang it targeted was thought to be smuggling guns and drugs through a network spanning Europe and the United Arab Emirates.’
