An ex-porn model has admitted trying to smuggle more than £18 million of cocaine from Britain to Australia.
Canadian Isabelle Lagace, 28, took the class A drug on board the £11,000-per-head Sea Princess cruise ship that sailed into Sydney.
She
documented her journey with dozens of social media posts taken at
stunning locations including the US, South America and Pacific.
But Australian Border Force officers were waiting when the ship docked in Sydney on the 51st day of the 68-day cruise.
Isabelle Lagace has appeared in many racy photoshoots
Police
alleged Lagace, her travelling companion Melina Roberce, 23, and and
64-year-old fellow passenger Andre Tamine were part of a "very
well-organised syndicate" to smuggle drugs.
Australian federal police said the illegal shipment was one of the largest ever of its kind, reports the Sydney Morning Herald .
The former porn model's lawyer Louis Ialenti entered the guilty plea at a courthouse in Sydney on her behalf.
The action-packed cruise took them across the world (Photo: instagram/belliszaa)
They posed in bikinis in many stunning locations (Photo: instagram/belliszaa)
The 95kg of drugs were worth $31 million in Australian dollars and were spread across four suitcases.
The
cruise began in Southampton and the social media posts show Lagace and
Roberce at locations including New York, Bermuda, Ecuador, Tahiti,
Colombia, Peru and New Zealand.
The maximum penalty for smuggling cocaine in Australia is life imprisonment.
Roberce and Tamine have not entered pleas yet.
Little Poppy Widdison died on the sofa of the flat in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, after ingesting a variety of drugs in the lead up to her death.
Pyke and Rytting encouraged Poppy to eat sedatives because they felt she was getting in the way of their relationship, the trial at Hull Crown Court heard.
She died in June 2013 after suffering a cardiac arrest at drug dealer Rytting's "squalid" home in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire.
Tests carried out after she died found that Poppy had ingested a variety of drugs for a period of up to six months before her death, including sedatives, heroin, methadone and ketamine.
Text messages between Pyke and Rytting talked about Poppy having a "blue Smartie" - believed to be a reference to the sedative diazepam in the form of a blue tablet - and going to sleep.
David Gordon, prosecuting, told the jury earlier in the three-week trial:
"We say Pyke and Rytting, the defendants, are just wanting to get on with their love life, wanting to enjoy each other's company and it may be this young girl was something of an encumbrance.
"It's apparent from the text messages that Miss Pyke viewed Poppy as an inconvenience, who she felt was in the way with regards her relationship with Mr Rytting."
An ambulance was called to Rytting's home in Oliver Court on June 9, 2013 where Poppy was found to be "unresponsive, blue and not breathing".
Police found these in their home
She was taken to hospital but died the next day.
A post-mortem examination could not establish a cause of death but toxicology tests carried out on her blood and hair found various drugs and showed the young girl had been exposed to and had ingested significant amounts of heroin and methadone for a period of between two and six months before her death.
The drugs did not contribute to Poppy's death but experts agreed there was a "long period of ill-treatment and neglect by the grossly inappropriate administration of various drugs to the child by the defendants".
The trial was told that Pyke was in the process of moving into Rytting's home, where prescription and controlled drugs were "left lying around".
Both defendants pleaded guilty to child cruelty by allowing Poppy to be accommodated in a house where prescribed and controlled drugs were unsecured and within reach of the child.
Pyke, 37, also pleaded guilty to child cruelty by emotional abuse after neighbours heard her shouting at Poppy, threatening her and calling her a "little bastard".
On Friday, a jury took just over two hours to find both defendants guilty of one count of child cruelty by encouraging Poppy to ingest prescription and or controlled drugs.
Rytting, 40, who admitted one count of importing drugs and two counts of supplying controlled drugs, was also convicted of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
They will be sentenced next year.
A count of child cruelty by assault causing bruising against both defendants was dropped by the prosecution during the trial.
Speaking after the verdicts, Detective Superintendent Umberto Cuozzo, who led the investigation for Humberside Police, said:
"Poppy was betrayed by the very people who were entrusted to keep her safe from harm.
"They put their relationship, lifestyle and drugs before her and I hope they now come forward and tell the truth about the events that led to Poppy's death in June 2013."
Mr Cuozzo described the three-and-a-half year investigation as "meticulous" and "complex".
An NSPCC spokesman urged anyone concerned about a child's welfare to contact the charity. On the Poppy case, he added:
"It defies belief that anyone would purposefully feed class A drugs to a young child who would have been looking to the adults in her life for love and attention.
"Their priority should have been keeping Poppy safe from harm but instead she was growing up in shockingly dangerous conditions.
"The distressing evidence from this trial paints a picture of a young girl who was tragically viewed as an inconvenience."
Jehu Kwasu, a Political Science graduate has narrated how he defrauded prominent Nigerians of millions of naira, impersonated the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah and even his own father who was a bishop.
Jehu said his victims included Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church Worldwide, who he claimed gave him N500,000; the Chairman, Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, N1m; Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, N500,000; businessman, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, N2m.
He said,“I collected N500,000 from Otudeko, CEO, Honeywell: From Admiral Kanu, I got N500,000. I also got N500,000 from Bishop Oyedepo and N2m from Dantata. I also got money from Gen. Wushishi and others.”
“I opened a Guaranty Trust Bank account in Bishop Kukah’s name. I registered a SIM card in my name, but used Bishop Kukah’s picture on my True Caller account, so that when I call, his picture would appear (on the recipient’s phone.)”
Kwasu, who is serving a two-month sentence in the Keffi Prison, admitted on Friday in Abuja that he realised over N5.7m.
Police sources said only N1.7m was found in his bank account, adding that the suspect spent most of the money he made on girls and hard drugs.
It was gathered that Kwasu, the son of late Anglican Bishop, James Kwasu, also exploited his father’s name, to extort money from the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, when the latter was the Speaker, House of Representatives.
The 25-year old explained that he defrauded his victims by soliciting money on phone to cater to IDPs in the country.
The cleric’s son stated that he obtained a passport with the name, Mathew Hassah Kukah Jehu, and also opened an account with the GTB in the same name.
He said, “I called people on the telephone and told them I was Bishop Kukah. I used his picture on my True Caller account, so that when I called people, they would think he was the one talking with them.
“I also obtained a passport in Bishop Kukah’s name which I used to open an account with GTB. The money I realised was paid into the account and I used an Automated Teller Machine card to withdraw it.”
According to Punch, Kukah was alerted to the scam by some people close to him.
The cleric was said to have petitioned the police, which asked the bank to place a “no debit order” on the account.
Following his inability to withdraw from the account, Kwasu was said to have visited the bank to complain, where he was arrested.
Findings indicate that Kwasu had earlier been arrested and remanded in prison for impersonating Bishop Steven Akobe of the Anglican Diocese of Kabba, Kogi State, but was granted bail.
The police said Kwasu had also attempted to extort money from Senator David Mark, claiming to be Akobe.
“Mark said I should come for some money, so I sent my girlfriend. But she was arrested and I was taken to court and sentenced to two months imprisonment or N9,000 fine,”Kwasu stated.
It was gathered that the suspect, who had two female siblings, sold his deceased parents’ house in Kaduna for N10m and lavished the money on girls and a profligate lifestyle.
The Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Mustafa, stated that Kwasu was arrested by the men of his command, after Kukah complained about his activities.
The CP said, “We received a petition from Bishop Kukah alleging that the boy had been impersonating him and extorting money from prominent people. So, my men went to work and were able to track the suspect and arrest him. He is a habitual criminal and I would like to advise the public against responding to emails or phone calls from unknown persons requesting financial support for one cause or the other.”
Mustafa also called on the public to report every suspicious phone call and email to the police for investigation.
The Rivers State Police Command has provided details about how a bullion van driver absconded with N100m in Port Harcourt.
The unidentified driver and the bullion van containing the cash had been reported missing on Friday after arriving in Port Harcourt from Aba to deliver cash to some banks.
The state Deputy Police Commissioner in charge of Administration, Mr. Uche Anozia, Rivers Police Command, told journalists that the driver made away with the cash when security escorts attached to the van disembarked after part of the cash was delivered Zenith Bank.
He said, “On the 8th of July, last Friday, we received a report by one Mr. Stanley Ndubuisi of Bankers Warehouse, a company located at 36, Forces Avenue, Old GRA, Port Harcourt.
“The company engages in bullion van services. These bullion vans are rented by banks to convey their cash to and fro. So, on this day, a bullion van was rented from this company by Zenith Bank and Stanbic IBTC Bank, here in Port Harcourt.
“The bullion van was to go to Aba to the branches of these particular banks to convey cash to Port Harcourt on behalf of these banks. The bullion van was manned by a driver, who drove the vehicle to Aba.
“When it (bullion van) arrived Port Harcourt, it went to Zenith Bank and delivered part of the money owned by the bank to it. According to the complainant, at that point the soldiers disembarked and left.
“Now, it remained the money for Stanbic ibtc Bank and the driver alone. Consequently, the driver absconded with the money.”
Croatian Serb rebel leader Goran Hadzic, tried by a UN war crimes court over his role in the 1991-1995 war in Croatia, died Tuesday, state-run Tanjug news agency reported.
“After a severe illness Goran Hadzic died today,” the agency said, quoting the regional hospital of Vojvodina province.
Hague-based UN war crimes judges had in April ordered an indefinite halt to the trial of Hadzic, 57, as he battled the advanced stages of terminal brain cancer.
Hadzic, the final suspect of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was charged with 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The accusations included the murder of civilians taken from Vukovar hospital in 1991 in one of the conflict’s darkest episodes.
His trial opened in October 2012, following his arrest in Serbia in 2011 after seven years on the run.
But Hadzic, who denied all the charges, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in November 2014, released provisionally six months later and allowed to return to northern Serbia for treatment.
The Akwa Ibom police command has arrested three suspected kidnappers identified as Austin Agba, 35; Friday Sunday Paul, 23, and Christian Ekenu, 27, after their leader simply identified as Agba, went to pick up the N3 million ransom from relatives of one of their kidnapped victims at Olympus Hotel, along Afaha Uqua Road, Eket Local Government Area.
Bayelsa State-born Agba who denied being a kidnapper, had gone to the said hotel in Eket to collect the N3 million he had negotiated for the pirates from the fishermen when the police apprehended him.
‘I’m a middleman. I am just an Ijaw man and a middleman to the Ijaw fishermen and the pirates. So, there are certain groups of fishermen that normally contribute money to the pirates to make sure they do their businesses smoothly. When the pirates had a meeting with the fishermen, they said I am the one that would be negotiating the monthly payment. The fishermen said if they negotiate directly, the pirates will charge them too high, but if I intervene, the pirates will bring down the levy because I am an Ijaw brother. On that fateful day, I went to collect the money to settle the pirates so that they would allow the fishermen do their business. It was in the process that I was arrested".
Denying being a kidnapper, another member of the gang, 23 year old Friday Sunday Paul, from Eastern Obolo Local Government Area, whose duty it was to convey victims on his motorbike, said on the contrary, he was kidnapped by the group members.
“I was riding my bike along Afaha Uqua Road junction when three guys stopped me. Two of them climbed the bike and told me to take them somewhere. On getting there, one of them put his hand in my trouser and said I must take them to where they were going to. They used a gun to threaten me, saying they were going for an operation. I am not one of them. I was set up"he said
Ekenu, who is from Oron Local Government Area, said
“I came in from Lagos to meet my friend, Tony. I am an artist. When I arrived Oron, he asked me how much I came with and I said I did not come with any money. He called his friends and said they should take my shoes, watch and phones. When they went outside the room, I escaped through the ceiling and ran to the police station. Unfortunately for me, along the road, they picked me and took me to the police station, saying I was a kidnapper. It is for that reason that I am here. I do not understand any of these.”
Refuting their claims, the spokesperson of the Akwa Ibom Police command, Delia Nwawe, said they were members of the same gang, who were arrested following each suspect’s confessional statement
The Anambra State Police Command on Monday paraded a nine-man gang that had been terrorising Nanka community in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state.
Members of the gang led by one Ifedilichukwu Nwankwo allegedly chopped off one of the ears of a Divisional Police Officer of Ajali Division (name withheld) who was at Nanka to effect their arrest.
Parading the suspects at the State Anti-Robbery Squad office at Awkuzu, Oyi Local Government Area, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ali Okechukwu, said the Nanka community had been liberated by the arrest of the gang.
Okechukwu said, “On 17/02/2016 at about 9am hours, one Okechukwu Udezuka of Oraifite and Ebuka, surname unknown, were shot dead at Tarzan, Nkpor by a gang of armed robbers.
“In the course of investigation, two persons namely Emamanuel Nwabudu, Chigozie Nweke, a.k.a Achito, were arrested.
“The suspects named one Ifedilichukwu Nwankwo of Nanka and others as those that attacked and killed Okechukwu Udezuka and Ebuka.
“Every attempt to arrest Ifedidilichukwu and his gang members proved abortive.
Okechukwu said that on 27/06/2016, following a raid of Nanka community, Ifedilichukwu Nwankwo, Chidi Nwankwo and Udoye Kenechukwu were arrested.
The PPRO said, “Before now, the gang led by Ifedilichukwu Nwankwo has on several occasions prevented the police from force CID Abuja, Zone Headquarters Umuahia, from making any arrest at Nanka.
Okechukwu alleged that the gang burnt down a police Hilux Jeep during an arrest in the community.
He said, “On 20/06/2016, a team led by the DPO Ajali Division, was ambushed at Nanka by the gang when they (police) went to effect arrest.
“The DPO Ajali was robbed of his handset and sums of money. He was stripped naked and one of his ears chopped off. Equally, his official uniform was torn to shreds.
“The DPO, who narrowly escaped death, is currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.”
Michael Jace has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for killing his wife, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Friday.
The Shield star was found guilty on May 31 of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife, April Jace, two years ago.
Jace was sentenced on Friday following an emotional hearing in which the actor admitted during the trial to killing his wife in May of 2014.
The 53-year-old apologised to the family after the victim's relatives spoke and wept in court.
Michael Chiklis (Detective Vic Mackey), Michael Jace (Officer Julien Lowe).
His attorney told jurors that he had acted in the heat of passion.
Jace was reportedly upset that his wife planned to divorce him.
Prosecutors said that Jace shot his wife three times at the couple's Hyde Park home, twice in the legs and once in the back, with their two young sons present.
The couple's 10-year-old son, Nehemiah, reportedly told jurors that he heard his father say,
"'If you like running, then run to heaven,'" before firing the second gunshot.
Jace told police that he initially intended to take his own life with the gun.
He later decided to hurt his wife, not kill her, planning to shot her in the leg with her father's revolver.
"I was just angry," Jace said. "All I intended to do was shoot her in the leg. And then I shot her in the leg and that was it."
Jace played a police officer in the FX crime drama The Shield.
He also appeared in Burn Notice, The Mentalist and TV series Southland.
A fraud suspect, Mr. Desmond Nunugwo, has died barely after six hours in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the agency has said.
The spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Friday that the suspect was arrested for allegedly duping a woman of N91m.
Nunugwo was alleged to have collected the money under the pretext that he had high net worth business associates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, who were on the verge of buying Nicon Insurance and convinced her of their disposition to help her stock fish business.
Consequently, she wired N91m into Nunugwo’s nominated account (Mainagge General Merchants) in Diamond Bank.
According to the EFCC, the suspect was arrested following a petition from the woman who alleged that he had become evasive after collecting the money.
The deceased was subsequently arrested and taken into custody around 5.30pm on Thursday. Six hours, however, Nunugwo was said to have fallen ill and was rushed to a hospital where he died.
The statement read in part, “A suspect under investigation by the EFCC passed away on June 10, 2016, few hours after he was taken into custody. His demise was confirmed at the hospital where he was rushed after he suddenly took ill.
“The Late Nunugwu allegedly fraudulently obtained N91m from an acquaintance after he tricked her into believing that he had high net worth business associates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates who were on the verge of buying Nicon Insurance and convinced her of their disposition to help her stock fish business.
“Nunugwo was arrested in Utako, Abuja at about 5.33pm on Thursday, June 9, 2016. His statement was taken, where he admitted receiving the money from the complainant, with the additional information that he transferred N30m of the said money to Norway. But he could not explain the whereabouts of the balance of N61m.
“The suspect was detained at about 7.30pm, in the absence of anybody to take him on bail. Six hours later, he suddenly complained of discomfort and was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.”
The EFCC said the incident had already been reported at the Wuse Police Station, where investigation into the cause of the sudden death had commenced.
A high-flying university student who lied to police about being strangled and beaten by her ex boyfriend has been jailed for 15 months.
Natasha Uttamsingh faked medical evidence after Aakash Andrews ended their relationship.
The single mother also sent a text to herself from Andrews' phone saying heraped her – but was rumbled by police.
Uttamsingh, who was part way through a midwifery course, was determined to keep her older boyfriend in her life when he said he wanted to split up.
She threatened to ruin his career before calling thepoliceand saying he had beaten her.
Mr Andrews was arrested and taken away from the flat they shared – but detectives realised Uttamsingh had made up a pack of lies when she claimed he had sent a text admitting to rape while the phone was not actually in his possession.
The 22-year-old also altered a medical exam form to say that police needed to investigate the made up attack.
Uttamsingh was seen by a specialist doctor who noted that she had a red mark on her neck after Mr Andrews had pushed her during the explosive row but there was nothing on the report to suggest she had been raped or beaten.
Months later she took the report and changed it herself to suggest that police needed to investigate the matter.
She then took out a non molestation order against her ex partner and changed a contact in her phone to his name to make it look like he had called her 25 times.
Uttamsingh was on Tuesday jailed for 15 months for carrying out acts intended to pervert the course of justice and was given a restraining order for five years.
Prosecutor Tony Prosser said: "The relationship was experiencing problems and Aakash had said that he wanted to end it.
"When he suggested finishing it she told him she was pregnant. He said he wanted to go away for a few days.
“She stood in front of him and said she would report him for domestic assault if he were to try to leave her.
"A call was made to the police, it was reported to come from a Nicola Smith which was the defendant using a false name," said the prosecutor.
"She then made an allegation he had strangled her to the point of unconsciousness and that she was assaulted on a daily basis.
"The next day she said she had been the subject to rape."
Defending Uttamsingh, Michael Hillman claimed the 22-year-old had a personality disorder and her crimes had scuppered her prospects of becoming a midwife.
"She maintains that she was the victim of abuse but she has to acknowledge that as a result of her own conduct one will never know whether that was indeed a true complaint given the lies and the very significant lies that followed that allegation," he said.
"This is a girl who did extremely well. She got very good grades at school and was a top of the class student who started a degree in midwifery."
Uttamsingh, of The Heart, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, was jailed for 15 months after she admitted four counts of intending to pervert the course of justice at an earlier hearing. She showed no emotion as she was jailed and ordered not to approach Mr Andrews, his mother or his friends for at least five years.
Sentencing at Guildford Crown Court, Judge Christopher Critchlow, said:
"There was a false message put on his phone by you suggesting it was sent by him which indicated that he had raped you, all of which was false.
"You altered medical records from a doctor which was put before the family court in support of an application by you for a non-molestation order that you obtained. He was able to go before the court and show it should not have been made and it was rescinded.
"Then you produced false phone records on your mobile implying harassment by him.
"This was all an apparent charade.
"You have tried to influence a court by dishonestly altering medical records and tried to bring problems into Aakash Andrews' life and you have succeeded in doing that."
Uttamsingh's mother, who sat at the back of the courtroom throughout the sentencing, cried as her daughter was taken away from the dock to begin her sentence.
An Ado Ekiti Magistrate’s court on Monday remanded a 21- year old man, Olarewanju Olorunfemi and a female accomplice Sadiat Akeem, 18 for carrying out an aportion leading to the death of an 18-year-old Fumbi Taiwo.
The police prosecutor, Sgt. Caleb Leranmo, told the court that the accused committed the offence on May 25 at Ilawe Ekiti in Ekiti South West Local Government Area of Ekiti state.
He alleged that Olorunfemi was the boyfriend of the deceased while Akeem was her friend.
According to him,the accused persons committed an offence contrary to Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap C 16, Laws of Ekiti State. 2012.
He added that he had duplicated and sent their case file to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
The plea of the accused were not taken as their counsel, Mr Tunde Olayemi, sought for a date of adjournment pending the advice of DPP.
Magistrate Ropo Adegboye consequently ordered the remand of the duo in prison and adjourned the case till June 22 for further hearing.
We have been able to lay our hands on the alleged photo of 19 year old Wizkid impersonator, Ifeoma Nelly who was able to dupe unsuspecting Wizkid fans, both home and abroad of several millions of naira.
Police say Miss Ifeoma, who is a 200 level student of Industrial Chemistry in Delta state university (DELSU) sported a low cut, talked and dressed like a man. It took them time before they were able to believe that she was female.
She was set up at a hotel where she came to collect part payment of 25 thousand dollars from some Australians who wanted to feature Wizkid on a show in their country. When she stepped in with her companions, they swooped in on her and arrested the teen scammer.
Before then she had been posing on Facebook as Wizkid. She even registered her number as the singer and was able to successfully dupe people of almost 13 million naira.
Principal of Uvawhu Comprehensive High School, Port Harcout, Mr. Greg Okpaka, has lamented that suspected cultists now demand for money from the school before allowing it to hold examinations.
Okpaka told correspondents that the school authority decided to give the cult group money to prevent them from disrupting the examinations.
He specifically said that cult members from the community came to ask for money on several occasions before they allowed the last external exam organised by the West African Examination Council to hold.
He pointed out that students now give less attention to their studies because some of them had been initiated into cult groups.
Explaining that the entire school has currently become a jungle, Okpaka disclosed that students were now paying more attention to cult activities than their studies.
He said in 2014, the school could not hold its internal exams as a result of threat from cultists and cult-related activities.
“Cult related activities have been disturbing academic activities. In 2014 we could not hold examinations in this school based on cult related activities, although it started from the community.
“Cultism has been impacting negatively on the students both on the internal and external examinations. The last time we conducted internal examinations here, the students’ scores were so low that if we had graded them based on that, none of them would have been promoted.
“During the last West African Examination Council, some cult boys from the community came several times to take money from the school. And the school gave them (money) to allow the exams to hold.
“We are virtually in a jungle here. From what I experienced, students here give less attention to academic works and give much attention to cultism,” he stressed.
Okpaka observed that some of the secondary students were now uncomfortable with campaigns against cultism, regretting that students now become impatient whenever campaigns were launched against cultism.
The educationist lamented that morality was fading away in secondary schools, noting that students now exhibit criminality without fear or shame.
Okpaka noted that when students were addressed to avoid cultism, they begin to shuffle their legs on the ground as a mark of protest and dissatisfaction.
A teenager identified as Cai, has been sentenced to a prison term of three years with a four-year probation period for intentional homicide, on Thursday, by Huqiu District People’s Court in Suzhou City, China.
She received a suspended sentence after she was found guilty of killing her baby by throwing it out of an eighth-floor window.
According to a statement issued by the court, the mother, who was 17 at the time, gave birth to her baby in a toilet at a rented apartment in August 2015.
“When Cai, who had no inkling that she was pregnant, heard her newborn’s first cries, she panicked and threw her out of the bathroom window to avoid any unwanted attention from her neighbours,” the statement said.
Cai got pregnant during a drunken one-night stand with an underage boy she had met online, she told the court she could not even remember the name of the baby’s father.
The court heard the case in a private session and gave a lighter sentence as underage juveniles were involved.
However, the court did not disclose the judgment date.
A judge sentencing heavily pregnant Lindsay McLoughlin for stealing a bike told her: “I hope you are not bringing up little thieves.”
Judge Sean Morris asked Lindsay McLoughlin, 33, who has 14 prior convictions: “What hope do you think your children have got if you behave like this?
“What sort of example is this? Not very good, is it? What hope do you think your children have got if you behave like this?
“Do you want to see them in and out of court like you?
“Well let’s hope you haven’t brought up little thieves because with the kind of life you’ve led that’s the sort of thing they’re going to follow. I hope they don’t.”
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McLoughlin, from Middlesbrough, was at Teesside Crown Court with her brother Anthony McLoughlin, 34, where they both pleaded guilty to theft of a man’s bike.
Both siblings had previous convictions - 98 offences for Anthony McLoughlin, 14 for his sister - including thefts.
Judge Morris fined pregnant McLoughlin £750 and ordered her to pay £60 compensation while jailing her brother for seven days, which he had already served having been remanded in custody since October.
A 24-year-old man, identified as Ilemobayo Anjorin, was beaten to death by a mob in the Palmgroove area of Ondo State for allegedly stealing a goat on Saturday.
The deceased was said to be a chieftain of one of the branches of the Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Riders Association of Nigeria in the town.
According to an eyewitness, the deceased and his friend were apprehended for the offence, but while his friend escaped, Anjorin was reportedly apprehended and brutalised by a mob on the street who were allegedly mostly students of the Adeyemi College of Education, before he was rescued by the policemen who took him to a hospital in the town.
The eyewitness said the mob followed the policemen to the hospital where the doctor confirmed that the alleged thief had given up the ghost.
The Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Enuowa Police Station, Ondo, Mr. Kunle Omisakin, said the woman who was the owner of the alleged stolen goat had been arrested while investigation had commenced into the matter.
OPERATIVES of the Anti-Kidnap Unit of the Rivers State Police Command have arrested nine pregnant women during their raid of a suspected baby factory in Umuikpe in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State.
The pregnant women, who were members of a baby-making syndicate, were paraded in Port Harcourt on Monday. They were between the age of 21 and 25 years.
Also arrested was a 68-year-old private security man, John Ndukwe, who was manning the gate of the baby factory identified as Charity and Rehabilitation Centre.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Muhammad, told newsmen that the arrest of the pregnant women followed the abduction of a four-year-old boy, Friday Alioma; and a pregnant woman, Happiness Samuel; in Ogbogoro, Obio/Akpor LGA on May 15 and 16, 2016 respectively.
“Through discreet investigation, one Nkechi Oguama, a native of Ugiri in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, was arrested with Ngozi Ogbonna, Blessing Izimanze and Favour Ogbonma in connection with the abduction.
“They denied kidnapping four-year-old Friday Alioma. But, they confessed to have known about the kidnap of Hapiness Samuel. Five more pregnant women, who were suspected members of the syndicate, were also apprehended through information given to the police by the first group of suspects.
“The five suspects are Ijeoma Ofor, Chioma Nkeze, Peace Sunday Matthew, Joy Chisom, Chinyere Monday and the security man, John Ndukwe. One of the suspects, Ngozi Ogbonna, led a team of Anti-Kidnap Unit to the Rehabilitation Centre, where the other suspects were arrested.
“On interrogation, all the girls admitted that they went there to deliver and sell the children. We are still on the trail of the director,” the state police spokesman said.
He disclosed that the operator of the baby factory, one Mrs. Ama (surname unknown) was currently on the run, adding that the police were currently on her trail.
Muhammad stated that the suspects would soon be charge to court, even as he warned those involved in selling babies to fake charity home operators to desist from the act.
However, one of the pregnant women, Ngozi Ogbonna, disclosed that she sold her first baby in 2015 to the operator of the baby factory for N100,000 shortly after delivery.
“I am into ‘runs’ (prostitution) before I got pregnant and an agent of the woman (baby factory operator) advised me to go to the charity home. The woman was taking care of me and other pregnant women.
“My first baby was a girl and I gave her to the woman and collected N100,000 from her,” Ogbonna said in passable English.
Also, the security man arrested alongside the pregnant women told newsmen that he was not aware that the business the woman was doing was illegal, maintaining that he was only concerned with receiving his N20,000 monthly salary.
A final year student of the Technical College, Ikorodu, Lagos State, Iseoluwa Omomowo, has disappeared while running an errand for his stepbrother’s wife in the Ebute-Meta area of Lagos State.
According to PUNCH Metro, it was learnt that the 28-year-old Ondo State indigene, had gone to withdraw N8,000 from a First Bank of Nigeria Automated Teller Machine on Saturday, but he did not return home.
It was gathered that by Monday, his cell phone had been switched off.
Efforts by the family to locate his whereabouts had been abortive.
His stepbrother, Dr Omoteyinshe Oluwole, explained that the victim was the family’s last child, adding that he had been living with him for about five years.
Oluwole, a medical doctor, said he was in Sagamu, Ogun State, when Omomowo went missing.
He said,
_ “He started living with me in 2011. He is a final year student of Electrical Department of the Technical College, Ikorodu.
“On that Saturday, I sent some money to my wife’s bank account. My wife asked him to withdraw N8,000 from the ATM. After withdrawing the money, he was supposed to go to the Lagos Island to get a pair of trousers from my tailor.
“At exactly 12.28pm, she received an alert on her phone that the money had been withdrawn from the account.
“Around 4pm, my wife called me that she had yet to see my brother and she was going to the market and needed somebody to stay with our child. I called him on the telephone, but he didn’t pick his calls.”_
Oluwole said when he called the tailor, he was told that his brother had yet to arrive.
_“Around 6pm again, I called the tailor again, and he said he had not seen my brother. We called his cell phone repeatedly, but nobody picked the calls.
“At 9pm when he didn’t return home, we thought he had gone to watch football at a viewing centre. The police said we could not report until after 24 hours,” _he added.
A family friend and lawyer, Ige Asemudara, said the family had gone to different police stations, as well as prayer houses.
He said,
_ “In one of the places we went to, we were told that he was abducted by some people and they would still release him.”_
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said, “The case was reported to us on Sunday. We are investigating the matter.”
