Crime

Social media influencers pose a "new and increasing threat" for uncontacted indigenous people, a charity has warned after the arrest of a US tourist who travelled to a restricted Indian Ocean island.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, allegedly landed on North Sentinel Island in an apparent attempt to make contact with the isolated Sentinelese tribe, filming his visit and leaving a can of coke and a coconut on the shore.

Survival International, a group that advocates for the rights of tribal people, said the alleged act endangered the man's own life and the lives of the tribe, calling it "deeply disturbing".

The US said it was aware and "monitoring the situation".

Andaman and Nicobar Islands' police chief HGS Dhaliwal told news agency AFP that "an American citizen" had been presented before the local court and was remanded for three days for "further interrogation".

AFP, citing Mr Dhaliwal, said Mr Polyakov blew a whistle off the shore of the island in a bid to attract the attention of the tribe for about an hour.

He then landed for about five minutes, leaving his offerings, collecting samples and recording a video.

The police chief told AFP: "A review of his GoPro camera footage showed his entry and landing into the restricted North Sentinel Island."

It is illegal for foreigners or Indians to travel within 5km (three miles) of the islands in order to protect the people living there.

According to police, Mr Polyakov has visited the region twice before - including using an inflatable kayak in October last year before he was stopped by hotel staff.

A sentencing date has been set for two of the gang members convicted over the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet from an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace.

Thieves smashed their way in and ripped out the functional toilet, hours after a glamorous launch party at the Oxfordshire stately home in September 2019.

Michael Jones, who was found guilty of planning the burglary, and James Sheen, who previously admitted stealing the toilet, will be sentenced on 13 June at Oxford Crown Court.

Fred Doe, who a jury convicted of conspiring to sell the gold, will be sentenced on 19 May.

In a short hearing at Oxford Crown Court earlier, Judge Ian Pringle KC set the date for Jones and Sheen, which he remarked fell on the "ominous" Friday the 13th.

Five men were seen on CCTV carrying out the heist, but only two - Sheen and Jones - have ever been caught.

Within days the artwork, called America, had been broken up and sold on. None of the gold has been recovered.

Sheen, 40, from Oxford, pleaded guilty to burglary and transferring criminal property in 2024, while Jones, 39, from Oxford, was found guilty of burglary at a trial last month.

The Pennsylvania woman who admitted to fabricating kidnapping and rape allegations against a stranger she “specifically targeted” because she thought he was “creepy” last year is paying for her lies.

Anjela Borisova Urumova, 20, was sentenced to 45 days to 23 months in Bucks County Correctional Facility on Tuesday by Judge Stephen A. Corr, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

She was also sentenced to one year of probation, ordered to have no contact with the victim, pay him $3,600 in restitution, and is required to undergo a mental health evaluation.

In January, Urumova — who was facing 17 years in prison — pled guilty to seven misdemeanor counts, including tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and false reports.

The lies led to an innocent man, Daniel Pierson, being jailed for 31 days until she admitted to making them up.

“Not only did this targeted false report impact the victim and his family in unimaginable ways, but there is also a profound ripple effect,” District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said.

“A crime like this can shatter the community’s confidence in the system. It can jeopardize prosecutions of legitimate crimes of sexual violence.”

Pierson, 41, was present with his wife in court Tuesday but did not wish to make a statement during the sentencing since the ordeal has been “too emotional” for him and his family, the DA’s office said.

A couple have criticised police after they were arrested for making complaints about their daughter's primary school.

Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine say they were detained by six Hertfordshire police officers in front of their young daughter on 29 January, after they were arrested on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications, and causing a nuisance on school property.

They told The Times they were fingerprinted and searched before being left in a police cell for eight hours. No further action was taken following a five-week investigation.

The couple said the arrest came after their nine-year-old daughter Sascha’s school, Cowley Hill Primary School, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, raised objections over them sending multiple emails and raising criticisms on a parents’ WhatsApp group.

They said they had previously been blocked from entering the school after taking issue with the process for appointing a head teacher and “casting aspersions” on the chair of governors. They said this meant they were not allowed to attend Sascha’s parents’ evening or her Christmas performance. They said the ban also meant they couldn’t provide crucial medical information to teachers, relating to their child, who is disabled, neurodivergent, and has epilepsy.

An obese Ohio woman with five lovers allegedly 'ordered' them to abduct and torture another man as revenge in a shocking kidnapping case.

Martina Jones, 28, her husband Michael Esqueda, 28, and boyfriends Aaron Bradshaw, 49; Austin Bradshaw, 23; David Cessna, 26; and Chance Johnston, 27 are facing multiple serious charges over the kidnapping.

Jones is said to be in a polygamous relationship and shared multiple children with the group of men, according to the Kansas Star.

Police said the 26-year-old victim was kidnapped on March 14 and held against his will for over a week at a Red Roof Inn in Maumee, Ohio - about 115 miles west of Cleveland.

He was brutally beaten with a baseball bat, forced to stand for extended periods, and given food and water just once daily, according to police.

Investigators say the captive was shockingly only allowed about 10 hours of sleep during the entire seven-day nightmare.

'He was being essentially tortured, assaulted, over the time frame of a week,' said Maumee Chief of Police Josh Sprow.

'His injuries were results of being struck with a baseball bat, struck with fists, elbows, stomping on him when he was on the ground, which over time resulted in multiple fractured bones.'

After the brutal murder of his first wife, Mark Winger moved on. After all, he was seen as the hero who tried to save her, subsequently killing her supposed murderer with his handgun moments later.

Police quickly concluded the 1995 killing of Donnah Winger was a tragic incident, committed at the hands of a seemingly mentally unwell driver who'd once driven her home from the airport.

It was an earth-shattering tragedy for Donnah's family and Winger went on to marry the beautiful young nanny that he'd hired to care for his and his late wife's recently adopted newborn. He then had three more children with her in the following years.

It wasn't until 1999, more than three years after Donnah's murder, when her best friend DeAnn Schultz came forward to say that she'd had an affair with Winger before her friend's killing that police began to look deeper into the case.

At the time, Schultz told police that Winger had made several incriminating comments, including, "It would be easier for us to be together if Donnah just died," and, "All you'd have to do is come in and find the body." Schultz said she felt at the time that the comments were just "crazy talk."

Donnah's family and Winger's ex-wife, Rebecca Simic, spoke to "20/20" about the horrific realization that Mark Winger was a manipulative killer hiding beneath the mask of a brilliant engineer and a kind, loving husband and father.

The doctor accused of trying to murder his wife while on a scenic hike in Hawaii had suspected her of having an affair months earlier and allegedly told his adult son he “tried to kill” her in a phone call after the near-fatal attack, according to reports.

Gerhardt Konig, a 46-year-old anesthesiologist, was charged Wednesday with second-degree attempted murder after he allegedly attacked his wife, Arielle Konig, 36, at the Pali Lookout, a famous panoramic vista on Oahu.

The couple had been married for six years, but over the months leading up to the attack, their marriage had started to fall apart, Island News reported.

Arielle, a renowned nuclear engineer, filed a restraining order against her husband Thursday and told the court that he had become prone to “extreme jealousy” and “has attempted to control and monitor all of my communications.”

She claimed that her husband, whom she wed in 2018, had accused her of cheating on him in December.

However, in an attempt to salvage their marriage, Arielle said they had been “participating in both couples and individual therapy and counseling.”

The couple’s relationship started to improve from the therapy, she said, and they decided to plan a weekend getaway to Oahu to celebrate Arielle’s 36th birthday with just the two of them, leaving their two young children, ages 2 and 5, at home.

The day after arriving on the island from their home in Maui on March 23, Konig suggested they hike the trail near Pali Lookout — where he allegedly flipped because his wife refused to take a picture with him.

He allegedly tried to push his wife off the trail, then punched her and hit her with a rock, and at some point, even tried to jab her with two syringes.

“I do not know what was in the syringe, but Gerhardt is an anesthesiologist and has access to several potentially lethal medications as part of his employment,” she wrote in the filing.

Konig was stopped when two women on the trail heard Arielle’s screams for help and intervened.

Arielle was rushed to The Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition with multiple facial and head injuries.

Konig was arrested later that evening near Pali Highway after a brief foot pursuit, cops said.

A 10-year-old Virginia girl took her own life after being targeted by bullies for defending others, her family has said.

Autumn Brooke Bushman, 10, of Roanoke, died on March 21. Her parents, Mark and Summer Bushman, and two older siblings are reeling from the sudden and unexpected loss.

According to her obituary, Autumn was a child who had “deep empathy, was soft-hearted, and always ready to lend a listening ear or offer support.”

While her parents were reportedly aware she was being bullied, things began to spiral in the last few weeks.

“If somebody was getting bullied or picked on, she would stand up for them. And unfortunately, that may have made her a target for more bullying,” Summer Bushman told WDBJ7.

Autumn began making unusual changes to her everyday life: she began wearing darker clothes, laughing and joking less around her loved ones, and sleeping for longer, her father told WSLS in a separate interview.

This behavior was atypical for a young girl who had an “infectious laugh and wonderful sense of humor” and loved taking part in cheer, track, dance, and archery.

Autumn was said to have “brought joy to those around her, making every moment brighter,” her family wrote in the obituary.

The bullying, her parents say, began at the start of the school year at Mountain View Elementary School last August, where Autumn was in the fourth grade.

BISMARCK — North Dakota lawmakers barely passed a bill Wednesday, March 26, seeking to allow a women's prison to create a nursery program where babies can live with their incarcerated mothers.

After a debate that lasted nearly an hour, Senate Bill 2352 passed the House with a 48-42 vote.

The legislation is likely to be reconsidered since 48 votes are required for a bill to pass and four members were absent or not voting Wednesday.

SB 2352 would authorize the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to allow children 18 months or younger to live with their mothers at the Heart River Correctional Center in Mandan.

The facility is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2027, when the program would be effective.

SB 2352 has the same intent as failed Senate Bill 2115, which was struck down by the Senate in January by an 18-29 vote. Opposing lawmakers cited concerns about the bill's uncertain, but potentially large, fiscal note.

The bill has since been slimmed from eight pages to a few sentences. Its original language would have exempted prison staff from being held liable if the child was injured — unless those injuries resulted from a negligent employee.

The head of an NYPD transit district in Queens was stripped of his command amid allegations that he had police reports falsified to downplay subway crimes on his watch, sources tell The Post.

Capt. Steven Hyland, who headed Transit District 20 in Jamaica, allegedly had two sergeants and a lieutenant under his command falsify reports — even forging signatures — to play down assaults and grand larcenies in the subway system, the law enforcement sources said.

In one incident, Hyland allegedly ordered a cop to change a complaint marked “legit” to snuff it out.

“This dude was so bad, he victimized the victim,” one source said.

Now, the veteran cop has been reassigned to a lesser detail in the Brooklyn court system after bringing internal charges against him Wednesday.

Police brass received one complaint regarding Hyland falsifying a report – prompting the department to launch its own audit, finding three more, sources said.

“When the police commissioner learned this was an investigation she told all parties to take the matter incredibly serious,” another source said. “He was transferred immediately.”

Three people have died after a shooting in St. Michael on Tuesday morning. The Spirit Lake Tribe says at 9:30 a.m. it was notified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement of the deadly shooting.

All three people who died are members of the Spirit Lake Tribe. The Bureau of Indian Affairs says they identified the gunman and what vehicle they were in early on. The Bureau of Indian Affairs says around 1:20 p.m., a farmer spotted the vehicle near the Black Tiger Bay Campground and quickly called it in. The gunman was found inside of his vehicle, with self-inflicted injuries. The injuries were not caused by a gun.

“He sent us a pin and we all arrived at the same time. We ran up to the vehicle. We kind of circled it so there wasn’t any crossfire. We gave commands and we were able to see hands.” said Benson County Sheriff Ethan Rode.

In total, 25 law enforcement agencies aided in the search for the gunman. During the search, a shelter-in-place was issued for all residents within the Spirit Lake Reservation boundaries, including the districts of St. Michael, Fort Totten, Crow Hill, and Wood Lake. “It’s nerve wracking, but we try to make the best of it and work together with other agencies to come up with a plan to try and apprehend these people.” Sheriff Rode said.

On Tuesday, other media outlets reported that the gunman was on the way to Fargo. Valley News Live asked the Fargo police department about this, and they said, in part, that those claims weren’t true. ”The FPD is aware of the situation that occurred in Spirit Lake Reservation earlier today and the information that the Spirit Lake Tribal Council has shared publicly. At this time, this is all the information the FPD has been provided — we do not have any other details related to the incident or any verified information that the suspect is traveling to Fargo. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates if additional information becomes available. If you have additional questions about this incident, please contact the Spirit Lake Tribal Council.”

A man has been arrested after a Japanese streamer was fatally stabbed while she livestreamed on a downtown Tokyo street on Tuesday.

Police in Japan said Friday that they had arrested Kenji Takano, 42, on suspicion of attempted murder.

He has since been sent to prosecutors but has not been charged yet, according to a statement from Tokyo metropolitan police on Friday.

The victim, Airi Sato, 22, was rushed to a hospital on Tuesday with critical injuries after she was attacked, suffering more than 30 stab wounds to the upper body, according to police. She was later pronounced dead.

According to the New York Times, Sato was heard screaming “Help!” by witnesses and livestream viewers before her WhoWatch stream went dark, with the sounds of emergency vehicle sirens audible for those watching live.

Her audience was reportedly posting questions in the chat, like “Where did she go?” and “Someone help!”

The suspect told police he got to know Sato through her livestreaming and had seen her in person a number of times, and that they had a financial dispute, according to the Asahi newspaper and other media reports.

The Asahi newspaper reported that Takano had lent Sato 2.5 million yen (around C$24,225) and that she did not pay him back despite a court order to do so.

Kyodo News reported that it is believed that Takono began lending Sato money around 2022. The outlet also reported that during a search of his home in Oyama, police seized more than 10 receipts for bank transfers, some of them to Sato.

Tokyo police said Takano had admitted to the attack but said he didn’t mean to kill Sato.

According to police, Takano used a survival knife to stab Sato in the head, neck and torso while she stood looking into her cellphone camera on a busy street.

An EncroChat user known as "Big Sh**ger" smuggled illegal cigarettes into the UK hidden inside a shipment of pasta. Paul Wilson and his older brother Peter used the encrypted communications platform to traffic millions of pounds of drugs and illicit tobacco products.

The latter's wife now says her husband has "let her down again" as he faces the prospect of another lengthy spell in prison. A third man, Andrew Brennan, meanwhile illegally sourced more than £5million of cigarettes, including "very good copies" of Mayfair and Chesterfield cigarettes from Greece and Belgium.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Brennan was involved in the trafficking of £5,203,993 of illegal cigarettes and £187,000 of cocaine while utilising the handle "Special Mask". Peter Wilson, who went by the pseudonym "Lesser Park", was meanwhile involved in discussions regarding £1,200,753.82 of tobacco products, £675,000 of cocaine and £7,000 of amphetamine, with Paul Wilson, the user of the account "Big Sh**ger", being connected to the supply of £2,721,729.35 of cigarettes, £375,000 of cocaine and 1,000 ecstasy tablets.

Lucia de Berk, better known to the media as Lucia de B., is a licensed pediatric nurse from The Hague. In 2003, she was sentenced to life in prison for four murders and three attempted murders.

As it turned out later, it was all a big mistake.

Her case has become one of the most famous miscarriages of justice in the history of the Netherlands.

But… how could something like this happen?

Deliberate incidents or a tragic coincidence? Let’s set the scene. At the end of 2001, Lucia worked at the Juliana Kinderziekenhuis, a children’s hospital in The Hague.

Her co-workers became suspicious after a baby unexpectedly died of “possible unnatural circumstances” under her supervision.

Tragically, similar incidents had occurred during Lucia’s shifts before. Between September 2000 and 2001, she was present for nine instances of infant death or resuscitation.

Though there was no direct evidence against Lucia, the chances of these incidents occurring so frequently were said to be medically and statistically very unlikely.

How unlikely, you ask? Experts claimed there was just a 1 in 342 million chance.

Based on this claim, the Juliana Kinderziekenhuis Children’s Hospital decided to press charges against Lucia, and other hospitals in which she had been working over the years supported the decision.

The trial During her trial at the court of The Hague, the evidence seemed to pile up against De Berk. Besides the statistical unlikelihood of what had happened, her diary became the most important piece of evidence against her.

On the night of one of the incidents where a patient had died, Lucia wrote that she had “given in to her compulsion.”

However, the final conviction was based on an expert’s statement. The expert claimed that the first victim had died due to a non-therapeutic administration of digoxin.

He believed that at least one of the victims had died as a result of a crime.

Based on this evidence, De Berk was eventually sentenced to life in prison for the murders of four patients and the attempted murders of three others on March 24, 2003. She was imprisoned at Scheveningen prison.

In her appeal in 2004, De Berk also received detention with ‘TBS’ (coerced psychiatric treatment), but the psychological observation unit found no evidence of mental illness.

De Berk continued to plead her innocence while at Scheveningen prison. She spent five years behind bars before her case was reopened in 2008.

[more at link]

Lucy Letby has called for the public inquiry into her crimes to be halted, arguing there is now “overwhelming and compelling” evidence undermining her baby murder convictions.

Lawyers for the former nurse took the extraordinary step of writing to Lady Justice Thirlwall on Monday to say that the inquiry – which is due to end on Wednesday – should be suspended immediately.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, they said the judge’s final report would “not only be redundant but likely unreliable” unless it was paused until the conclusion of a review of her convictions.

They added: “It is estimated that over £10m has been spent so far on the inquiry. It is now clear there is overwhelming and compelling evidence that Lucy Letby’s convictions are unsafe.

“For the inquiry to be effective and that taxpayer’s money not to be wasted, we urge that the inquiry be suspended and to wait for the outcome of the review to take place.”

Letby, 35, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill another seven at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England.

Lilie James was stalked by a former short-term partner who "carefully planned" and "rehearsed" his attack before carrying out a "premeditated killing", an inquest into her death has been told.

The 21-year-old was found with serious head injuries in the toilet area of the gym at St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney's CBD in October 2023.

Homicide detectives began a search for Paul Thijssen, a 23-year-old Dutch citizen who had been in a brief relationship with her, who was found dead at cliffs at Diamond Bay Reserve in Vaucluse days later.

On the opening day of concurrent inquests into the deaths, counsel assisting Jennifer Single SC said the evidence will establish Ms James was killed in the bathroom with a hammer.

She had ended their brief relationship just before her death.

"The evidence indicates that Paul stalked Lilie, Paul carefully planned his attack, and in the hours before the attack, he rehearsed his attack, making a number of dry runs," Ms Single said.