Source: www.sportsmole.co.uk
Sussex gang jailed for 37 years - The Argus.co.uk
Sussex gang jailed for 37 years
2:53pm Wednesday 25th July 2012 in News
Teenager Keyrillus Mechial was sitting in his car on August 3 when he spotted a group of masked men approaching a cash delivery van outside Higher Bevendean Post Office in Widdicombe Way, Moulsecoomb.
The 17-year-old called the police, and beeped his horn to warn the security guards.
The masked men faltered, and they got back in their silver BMW to drive off.
Keyrillus did not know it at the time, but his actions were to lead to sentences totalling more than 30 years for a team of criminals responsible for a spree of crimes in Sussex.
Gang members stole high-performance cars from driveways by breaking into homes to get the keys.
They fitted them with false plates and used them as getaway cars in robberies in Brighton and Worthing.
At Lewes Crown Court, Judge Michael Lawson said: “These burglaries were carried out by a group of young men who clearly had a plan.
“It carried on over a period of time. These vehicles were disguised. They were used for other criminal purposes, including robberies.”
The gang’s planning was undermined by a trail of forensic evidence left behind after cars were stolen in burglaries.
At least one gang member would get mixed up in a fight involving two members of the extended Dawes family of Brighton.
And Zak Marsden and John Paul Gallagher were arrested trying to escape from the scene of the Moulsecoomb raid.
As defending counsel Rhodri James put it: “It was a bungled, abortive, ineffective robbery.
“At the first suggestion of any third party involvement, the tooting of a horn, it fell apart.”
The fate of several conspirators was sealed by the DNA and fingerprints they left at the scene of their crimes.
A total of eight were sentenced in groups of two or three at Lewes Crown Court because there were too many of them to fit into the Court Four dock.
Some appeared on bail, carrying overnight bags and kissing their friends and family goodbye before entering the dock to learn their fate.
Others were brought up from the cells, exchanging handshakes or embraces with their co-defendants and blowing kisses to their supporters in the public gallery.
The biggest single crime of which any members were accused was a raid on security guards collecting cash from Sainsbury’s at Lyons Farm in Worthing on March 8 last year.
The culprits got away in two cars and opened a cashbox containing £25,000.
The money, though, was stained with security dye. When a dyed banknote was found inside a ticket machine at Worthing railway station on March 12, tests showed it carried Adam Willis’s fingerprint. Paul Addison’s DNA was also found.
At that point the gang was only beginning the crime spree for which they were sentenced.
Gallagher, Willis, Addison, Thomas Hignett and Paul Henaghan were involved in burgling homes and stealing cars between February and July. Some were never found; others were used in crimes.
Addison, Hignett and Henaghan all come from the same Merseyside neighbourhood but had moved to Sussex for different reasons before being drawn into crime.
In the Moulsecoomb raid, the robbers planned to swap getaway cars to make good their escape.
A Mazda was deliberately parked on the other side of bollards.
When they fled in their BMW, pursued by police, they pulled up on one side of the bollards, and ran to get in the Mazda on the other side.
The chase had become desperate, though. One robber was carried for a time on the bonnet of the car.
It was eventually abandoned in Kimberley Road. While Marsden and Gallagher were arrested, Willis and Addison got away. Addison wasn’t caught until December.
Before then, he was involved in a fight alongside Gary Dawes and his step-brother Lee Wright.
Dawes approached a car containing three men outside The Volks nightclub in Madeira Drive and asked if he could buy cocaine.
He made a comment about the size of his muscles and ended up punching one of the men through the car window.
Lee Wright – Dawes’s stepbrother – joined Dawes in the attack, and Addison also took part.
After the sentencings, Judge Lawson commended Mr Mechial and awarded him £250.
Mr Mechial said later: “I was happy to hear the sentences. So many people saw it and did not think anything of it.
“I’m still pleased I did what I did.”
Source: www.theargus.co.uk
Sussex jet skiers putting lives at danger by flouting safety laws - The Argus.co.uk
Sussex jet skiers putting lives at danger by flouting safety laws
12:30pm Wednesday 25th July 2012 in News By Ben James
Lifeguards have warned that there will be a serious accident if jet skiers continue to disobey safety bylaws.
The sunny weather has seen a string of complaints from swimmers, sailors and windsurfers claiming that the motorised vehicles are coming too close and too fast to the shore.
Bylaws are in place to prevent these types of incidents but lifeguards have said that “arrogant” jet skiers are ignoring them.
Graham Cherrett, the senior foreshore inspector in Worthing and Adur, said: “It has been a real problem over the last few days and we’ve had numerous complaints.
“The fear is that there will be a really serious accident and I’ve had to contact the police to help our guys enforce the rules.
“With the majority of cases in our area it’s arrogance. They know the rules because it’s the same people we are talking to. In many cases they are very rude and abusive.”
Jack Stonehouse, from Seaford Lifeguards, said: “Although some may think the bylaws are there to stop people having fun, we must remind people that there have been a number of incidents over the year where people have been seriously injured by crafts disobeying the bylaws.”
A number of different bylaws are in place along the coast guiding where and how fast skiers can travel.
Although they vary, typical restrictions prohibit skiers from riding within 250 yards of the beach.
Gary Beadle, the director of Sussex Marine Watersports, the authorised jet ski launch site for the area, said that the problems were caused by out-of-towners who visit from the weekend and “don’t know and don’t care” about the rules.
Skiers pay £25 to launch from Mr Beadle’s Shoreham Harbour centre where they are educated on local rules and safety.
However, some skiers try to avoid the charge by illegally launching from the beach or the other side of the harbour.
He said: “We take the names, numbers, addresses and vehicle details of all the guys who launch with us. If they break the rules then we can ban them.
“But we can’t track those who launch illegally. We care about the sport and want to improve the reputation in the area.”
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
Essex DA: Suspect shot by police in Lynn was on his way to commit home invasion - Boston Globe
The Lynn man fatally shot by police on Sunday was among a group of men who were beginning an armed home invasion, Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett said today.
Blodgett said in a statement that as part of a joint federal, state, and local investigation, investigators had “received reliable information” that Brandon Payne, 23, and others were “in the process of initiating an armed home invasion.”
“Acting on this information, members of the Massachusetts State Police Gang Unit and the Lynn Police Department acted swiftly to prevent this potentially deadly home invasion by attempting to stop the vehicles,” Blodgett said in the statement.
Authorities said Monday Payne was shot after he rammed his car into a police cruiser when officers tried to stop his car and another car on Sunday night at about 9:30 p.m. at Ingalls and Chatham streets in Lynn.
Authorities had previously only said that police had witnessed a possible illegal gun exchange between the occupants of the two vehicles before trying to stop the two vehicles.
Three other men who were in the two cars are facing charges. A fourth suspect is being sought.
An Essex County prosecutor said at the arraignment of the three men Monday that police were “fearing for their lives.”
Authorities said three guns were removed from the two vehicles.
The district attorney’s office is continuing to investigate whether the shooting was justified. Blodgett said a “complete report” would be released once the investigation is complete.
Source: www.boston.com
Reece Topley's potential excites Essex skipper James Foster - BBC News
Essex captain James Foster has hailed seamer Reece Topley as "a class act" following the teenager's recent performances for the team.
Topley has taken 17 FL t20 wickets this season at a cost of only 14 runs each, and had figures of 3-27 in Tuesday's quarter-final defeat by Somerset.
"He's a class act, he really is. If he keeps doing what he's doing he's going to have a very, very successful career.
"He's a very smart man for 18 years old," Foster told BBC Essex.
"He takes the pressure very well and just executes his skills. What more do you need?"
Topley is also a member of the England Under-19 side and has already set his sights on graduating to the senior squad in due course.
"I'm on the ladder towards the England side, but I am fully aware I'm on the bottom rung of that ladder.
"It's just time and effort and hard work and whether I want it enough - and I think I do," the left-armer said earlier this year.
Topley has only played 10 first-class matches so far, but Foster believes he will eventually become a leading member of their attack in all forms of the game.
"He bowled exceptionally well in the four-day game [against Gloucestershire] at Cheltenham. We only bowled 100 overs in the game, but he was our lead bowler there - and he's been excellent in the Twenty20 setup."
But Foster warned: "Hopefully he'll keep evolving as well. It's important that he doesn't just think 'easy game'."
Head coach Paul Grayson, meanwhile, has challenged Essex to raise their game in the final weeks of the season following their T20 exit.
They are currently seventh in Championship Division Two and bottom of their group in the CB40.
"It's tough that CB40 group and our one-day cricket hasn't gone to plan in that competition but we owe it to ourselves to put a really massive shift in for the next six weeks," he said.
"I believe that we can turn it around and finish the season on a real high."
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
The Only Way Is Essex star Sam opens up about a-Faiers of the heart - The Sun
TOWIE star Sam Faiers has revealed the way to her heart — old school romance.
The star, 21, was at the launch of a new The Only Way Is Essex perfume, Love Addict, last night.
Talking about the best seduction techniques to win her over, she said: "I'm quite simple as long as you've been taken to a nice restaurant, a nice drink and, if it's your boyfriend, treat you to a nice night over in London in a lovely hotel, that kind of thing does it for me.
"All the simple things and the thoughtful things."
Wearing a pink skirt, white bustier and statement necklace, the sexy blonde insisted that she was happier than ever with boyfriend Joey Essex - despite rumours of the couple cheating on each other.
Viewers saw Mario Falcone accuse Sam of being unfaithful to her boyfriend Joey Essex in Sunday night's episode of the ITV2 show.
But talking about her best ever time under the sheets, the sexy blonde teased TV Biz: "Let's just say that things are going really well with me and Joey."
LIKE The Only Way Is Essex? Now you can even smell like reality TV show gang
The TOWIE crew are famed for their love of Marbella, even filming a one-off special earlier this year in the Spanish destination.
And when questioned whether she's ever got frisky on the beach, Sam cheekily answered: "I haven't actually, but me and Joey are going away this year so let's see."
Sam said that she is also planning to jet off to Ibiza for a break after filming the current series of the show.
Essex crooner James "Arg" Argent, dressed in a pink shirt, admitted that he is, "more romantic with Mark than I am with the girls really."
Arg, 24, who was at the bash to promote the TOWIE boys' aftershave Platinum VIP, dated co-star Lydia Bright for several years but later admitted that he cheated on her.
Talking about his infidelities, he said: "I'm a young man and you live and learn and you make mistakes."
But since dating Gemma Collins, 31, who he has said that he has fallen in love with, he said: "I'm getting on just fine at the moment."
Source: www.thesun.co.uk
London 2012: Kelly Smith seeks golden sunset on glittering career - The Guardian
When the opening contest of the Olympic Games begins on Wednesday, and the Great Britain women's football team kicks off against New Zealand, it will seem apt that the player once banned from sport for being a girl might get the very first touch of London 2012. Kelly Smith will only need to roll the ball forward to her team-mate, but that simple moment resonates far beyond an otherwise ordinary group stage football match.
Smith, the greatest women's footballer this country has produced, has endured many ordeals on her long and often lonely path. The 33-year-old comes from Garston, a gritty neighbourhood outside Watford, and she has lived a tumultuous life in football. It has been a life, and a consuming obsession for Smith, pitted with prejudice and personal demons.
"From the age of seven I played for my local boys' team in Garston," Smith remembers on a sun-kissed afternoon at the GB squad's base. "There were no girls' teams and by the time I was nine I had run into trouble. I was the standout player on that boys' side, dribbling around players and scoring goals and making the opponents look a bit silly. That didn't go down well with the parents of those other teams. They weren't happy I was a girl and so they objected and said: 'We won't play against her anymore.'
"My dad broke it to me and to hear that news, at such a young age, is devastating. I just wanted to play, and I was accepted by all the boys. Only the mums and dads of the other teams had a problem."
Smith shrugs wearily at the memory of almost giving up the game at the wounded age of nine. "I came close. But I didn't want people saying I couldn't do something I loved. It was just the passion that kept me going. I had this burning desire to go out there and perform and get that buzz from playing. That's what I live for – even now."
Within a few months, Smith's father arranged for her to join a team in Pinner, on the suburban fringes of north London. From there she eventually joined Arsenal Ladies, the best women's team in Britain, and yet frustration set in again. "We took it seriously at Arsenal but the other teams weren't as good. I also didn't like the fact we were part-time and some of the pitches were rubbish. I wanted to improve myself so I went to America [aged 19 in 1997] with the idea of becoming a professional."
Smith shone at Seton Hall, a small college in New Jersey, and she was eventually signed by the surreally-named New Jersey Lady Stallions. Her personal problems escalated when, in 2001, she moved to Philadelphia Charge to play in the newly established women's league. Smith ended up in the grip of drink and despair.
"It was difficult adjusting to a new culture because I was so young, and very introverted. At uni, because I was so uncomfortable with myself, I started drinking quite a lot with my friends. But it wasn't until the first major injury that I took it a new level."
Did she drink alone? "Yeah," Smith says though a hurt little laugh. "I was at a really low point and didn't know which way to turn. I had broken my leg and couldn't work. None of my friends were around and I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. I used the drink to prop me up."
Eventually, Smith phoned her parents in Watford. Her father flew to Philadelphia and rescued her. "My dad could tell something was wrong and he said: 'OK, you've had enough – you're in a bad way.' I was on the next flight home."
Smith pauses and then, even though she is still shy, speaks forcefully. "I'll never forget those experiences. They were the darkest periods of my life. But I learnt a lot about myself and I'm now a lot more comfortable in my own skin. I don't rely on football anymore as the be-all and end-all. Back then it was my whole life."
Following a successful return to America and her current career at Arsenal, Smith explains the healthier balance in her life. "A lot of my friends are closer now, and my parents are still heavily involved in my life. I'm settled and own a house in Welwyn Garden City – and I have support from the girls and Hope Powell [the manager of both England and GB]."
Yet the last few months have not been carefree. Smith broke a leg while playing for England against France in February but, as she admits ruefully, "I made it worse. It should've been a six-week injury but it turned out to be three months. In early April I was at a photo shoot. I was all kitted-up and I wasn't in a lot of pain. My walking boot was off and the ball came to me and, instinctively, I kicked it. Right away I knew I'd done more damage. Another x-ray revealed I'd cracked the bone even more and I thought I'd ruined my Olympics. But I've come back well and I'm feeling sharp."
Smith has played in two World Cups, and three European Championships, but, as she says, "with this one, being the Olympics, I'm going to savour it. I've never had the opportunity to play in the Olympics and we've got a chance to break the world record [of 76,000] for the biggest crowd to watch a women's match. A week ago we'd sold 70,000 tickets for our game [next Tuesday at Wembley] against Brazil. I think, with the Olympic buzz, we could do it. Brazil are a wonderful footballing nation – so I'm relishing playing them. They're obviously very technical and skillful but we've beaten top teams like Japan and the US before."
During her illustrious career Smith has been hailed as the Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi of women's football. While flattered, she offers up her own comparison with Ryan Giggs – the captain of the GB men's Olympic team. "Growing up, even if I've always been a big Arsenal fan, I admired Ryan Giggs a lot. He was a left-sided player, like me, and he had pace and vision. It's nice to see him around the Olympics now as I've never met him before. I said 'hi' to him last week but I didn't want to bug him."
Smith laughs. "I also liked Ian Wright. I'd be buzzing to watch him play – his energy, the way he scored goals for fun. He was my childhood hero. I had their posters on my wall – Wright and Giggs."
Has she has adapted her game, like Giggs, in these final days of her career? "Yeah. I can't get away from defenders as quickly as I used to, but in terms of my vision and passing ability I feel quite confident. Experience helps me read the game and find space quite easily."
Smith reveals that, "I'd like some coaching badges – and see where that takes me. But I think I'd struggle with confidence as it's so different to playing."
Does she fear retirement? "Yeah, it's a bit scary. I've just played football my whole life and it's going to be tough to stop. But it's how you deal with it."
When she was a small girl, Smith dealt creditably with her ludicrous expulsion from playing football. The task of eventually finding a new life off the pitch will be harder but, as Smith says, with steel inside her natural reticence, "it will be much easier if we do something special in these Olympics."
Could the girl from Garston Boys even win an Olympic medal? "I don't see why not," Smith says. "I think we're good enough – especially at home."
• Catch Kelly and other Olympic football stars in the second half of the Women's Super League which kicks-off 15 August. Arsenal play Everton at the Arriva Stadium on 19 August. Full match details can be found at: www.fawsl.com/matches
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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