Dog-Breeders Fined For Stuffing Terriers Into Hot Removal Lorry

Two prize-winning dog breeders have been convicted on animal welfare charges after loading 13 pedigree Airedale terriers into the back of a poorly-ventilated removal van in sweltering heat.

The couple, Alan Weatherley, 65, and Julie Weatherely,59, of Beech Hill Cottage, Misson Springs, Doncaster, South Yorkshire were swooped on by police while moving from their former home.

The Kennel Club-accredited breeders, who placed at Crufts in 2005, fought the case, but were convicted at Croydon Magistrates' Court of failing in their duty to ensure animal welfare in Avenue Road, Belmont, Surrey on August 2, last year.

In 28.8 degree heat all the dogs (pictured) were unloaded into the street and the Weatherley's were forced to make the 200 mile journey without them.

The animals were temporarily rehoused by the police.

Prosecutor Mr. Sam Clyndes told the court: "Police were called to the defendants address and outside was a large van.

"In the back of the van were stacks of cages containing the dogs who were moving to Doncaster.

"The dogs were not in a suitable environment and given the heat of the day and the fact they were not provided with water meant they suffered further."

Concerned neighbours raised the alarm and police unloaded the van and gave the dogs water, telling the court the terriers "lapped up" the refreshment.

A police dog handler said the animals should not have remained in such conditions for more than twenty minutes and estimated the Doncaster journey time at five hours.

"Some of these dogs must have been in there for quite a considerable time, certainly more than twenty minutes," said Mr. Clyndes.

"You can come to the conclusion they may have been suffering," he told the magistrates. "They may have been dehydrated, which is illustrated by the fact they lapped up the water when they were removed from the van."

Mr. Weatherley told the court he planned to stop every thirty minutes to walk the dogs during the long journey and was trying to avoid over-watering them before setting-off.

"We have taken them to and from shows in these cages before without any problems," he said. "We were moving to larger kennels and a happier environment for the dogs.

"The dog-handler suggested we hire two mini-buses and take the seats out, but I don't think the hire company would be very happy about that.

"They were put in the van to get them off the premises. That is not how they were going to travel.

"We were going to walk and feed them and load them into the van later when it was cooler."

He denied dehydrating the dogs. "In hot weather you must not give them copious amounts of water. That is just as dangerous as not giving them enough water.

"They were used to travelling in these cages and they were not stressed at all. Air-conditioned vans do not exist."

However, Mr. Clyndes rejected the defendant's explanation suggesting: "You, Mr. Weatherley decided cost and time would take priority over the welfare of the dogs."

The magistrates convicted the couple on one charge each under the Animal Welfare Act and Mr. Weatherley was fined £175, with £400 costs and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

His wife was fined £100, with £200 costs and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

Consultant Harassed Ex With Gay Smears After Bitter Divorce

A respected consultant haematologist, waged a gay smear campaign against her doctor ex-husband, after feeling she was cheated out of £430,000 in their bitter divorce.

Dr. Finella Brito-Babapulle, 56, suggested his new girlfriend was a Bangkok ladyboy and sneaked notes into her children's Christmas gifts to the woman, which read: "Once a gay. Always a gay."

The mother-of-three, of West Park Road, Richmond, who was a blood-specialist at Ealing Hospital, was convicted of harassment against her ex - Dr. Mark Layton - also a consultant haematologist between September 19, 2010 and March 29, last year.

She lost an appeal at Southwark Crown Court last Thursday and was conditionally discharged for two years; served with a five-year restraining order banning her from contacting her ex and his girlfriend and ordered to pay £620 costs.

The couple, who have three children aged between 21 and 17, split in 2008 after twenty years together and Dr. Brito-Babapulle (pictured) took the divorce settlement all the way to the Court of Appeal.

She included a second Christmas note, which read: "I am happy for you both. I just want back the four hundred and thirty thousand you stole from me in the divorce."

In a series of emails and texts to Dr. Layton and to friends, family and professional colleagues Dr. Brita-Babapulle accused her ex of gay affairs and cruising notorious pick-up haunts.

She told the court it was her ex-husband who was bitter over the divorce and invented the charges to punish her.

"His strategy was to nail his ex-wife who now has to go before the General Medical Council with this criminal conviction.

"He was very unhappy because he did not get one of my two London houses.

"This is a man who did not buy his wife a wedding ring, but would rather give her a criminal record.

"He is financially driven and found his new girlfriend on a website called millionaires dot com."

Dr. Layton received half of the proceeds of the family home, which Dr. Brita-Babapulle claims she bought in full, then stashed the money in a secret Swiss bank account, according to the defendant.

She repeated her unfounded gay slurs in court claiming: "He was gay when we met. He had a long-standing relationship with a man.

"There was a period of despair and amazement in the family at what I had discovered and then a fascination with this alternative lifestyle. After that we used to laugh and joke about it."

Dr. Brita-Babapulle instigated divorce proceedings. "I did so with a heavy heart after he refused to come to counselling for his addiction to gay sex."

She denied her texts, emails and notes amounted to harassment insisting: "They were not meant to be harmful. I thought his new partner should know he was gay."

In one email Dr. Brita-Babapulle wrote: "This stupid woman thinks she is having sex with a heterosexual."

The defendant also pointed the finger at her ex-husband after she was burgled on the same day as her arrest and later punched by two mystery men in Kew.

"I live in fear of my life," she told the court. "I am the only person who has been assaulted in Kew in the last fifteen years."

Recorder Alexander Layton, dismissed the appeal and told Dr. Brita-Babapulle: "Your behaviour is distressing and distressed. There are no winners here.

"It is a distressing state of family affairs paraded before us today."

Pensioner Tragically Killed In Hit-And-Run

Police are still hunting the killer of a West London pensioner – who was struck by a stolen VW Golf in a hit-and-run – as he exited his own car.

A manslaughter investigation was launched after the death of retired Hayes mechanical engineer Roberto Da Silva, 70, (pictured) who was fatally injured on February 7.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Lawrence from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command said: “We are keen to speak to anyone in the area who either saw the Volkswagen Golf being driven prior the collision, saw the people responsible running away afterwards or may know who is responsible. Please come forward.


“I would urge anyone with information to please contact the Incident Room at Belgravia on 020 7321 7228, or if you wish to remain anonymous please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”



Police were contacted at 6.53pm February 7, by a man who saw his VW Golf being driven away with keys burglars snatched from inside his house.

A police car began following the VW Golf in Dawley Road, Hayes and began to follow, but called-off the pursuit after colliding with another car.

Four minutes later the stolen car crashed into Mr. Da Silva’s vehicle as he was exiting his own car in Moray Avenue and two men fled on foot.

Mr Da Silva, originally of Cape Verde, died at the scene. 



A post-mortem examination held at Uxbridge Mortuary found the cause of death was severe trauma to the spine.



Police Hunt Riot Hoodies After Driver Injured By Brick

Police are hunting five suspects after a lorry driver’s skull was fractured by a brick hurled through his windscreen during last summer’s so-called English riots.

Manuel Silva, 45, (pictured) needed a metal plate inserted into his skull and suffered blurred vision and migraines and is now permanently scarred.

Five hooded black youths, who were in Prince Regents Lane, Canning Town at 4.45pm on August 9, are wanted by police.

Two teens from the group threw a large brick through his windscreen and others joined in, throwing more bricks and smashing all the vehicle’s windows.

One brick hit Mr. Silva in his head, resulting in a serious head injury.

He remembers feeling a sharp pain from his forehead and touching his head to feel blood pouring from a wound.

In shock he quickly drove away from the scene fearing for his life and spotted uniformed officers who provided first aid. 



MR. Silva underwent a complex operation for a fractured skull and had a metal plate inserted in his skull as part of the procedure.

He was unable to work for two months, causing him great financial difficulty. 



He has now made a full recovery, but the scar remains.



Detective Constable David Tate of Operation Withern based at Newham said: “This was a serious unprovoked assault on a hard-working innocent man trying to get on with his job.

“He received extensive injuries leaving him unable to work and facing massive financial problems as a result. 



“There would have been lots of people in the area at the time of the assault and I appeal for any witnesses to come forward and assist police in catching those responsible.”



Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Constable David Tate on 02072754353 or if you wish to remain anonymous please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Suicidal Woman Crashes Car After OD

A suicidal woman, who took an overdose of sleeping pills and collided with another vehicle as she struggled to control her car, has been banned from driving for thirty months.

Elderly care worker Kim Evans, 44, of The Firs, Ruskington, Sleaford, Lincolnshire swallowed the entire packet of sleeping pills as she struggled to come to terms with the break-up of a ten-year relationship and mounting money troubles.

She pleaded guilty at Croydon Magistrates' Court to driving her Peugeot 306, while unfit through drugs, in Cheam Common Road, Cheam on October 27, last year.

The court was told police called to the scene of the crash at the junction with London Road found Evans (pictured) "incoherent" and "slurring her speech".

She was unsteady on her feet and trying to go to sleep and was rushed to hospital, where blood tests proved she had overdosed on sleeping pills.

Mr. John O'Keefe, defending, said: "She was severely impaired due to taking an overdose of sleeping tablets, which was a suicide attempt.

"She had gone through the break-up of a relationship of ten years and was going through personal and financial difficulties.

"All these circumstances became too much for her and she had a breakdown. She took the entire packet in a suicide attempt, lay down in the back of her car, and expected to die.

"It was a one-off crisis in her life."

The court was told Evans lives with her parents in a rural part of Lincolnshire and volunteers at an old people's home.

"She was completely incapacitated by the overdose she had taken and was unable to answer police questions."

Evans had returned to bar work at the time of the incident, but this accelerated her troubles.

"She took jobs in pubs and that led to an increased use of alcohol and in recent months developed an alcohol problem," added Mr. O'Keefe.

The tearful first-time offender was sentenced to a twelve month community order, which includes 150 hours community service work, and ordered to pay £85 costs.

'Semi-Detached Rage' Pensioner Attacked Builder And Neighbour

An 81year-old pensioner punched next-door's builder twice in the face in a suburban 'semi-detached rage' attack and violently struck his neighbour with his grandson's rounders bat when work started on their shared chimney.

Mounting ill-feeling concerning noisy works boiled over just three weeks after the new family moved into the quiet road and the blows left the Polish contractor with blood pouring from his nose and mouth.

Retired John Payne, (pic.top) of Oaks Avenue, Worcester Park, Surrey pleaded guilty yesterday to assaulting Lukasz Nochowicz (mid.l.) and Jaspal Sidhu (mid.r.) on October 11, last year.

Prosecutor Mr. John Gardner told Croydon Magistrates' Court the Sidhu family had just moved into the adjoining property (pic.bottom l.) and immediately began renovations after introducing themselves to Payne and his 79 year-old wife with a box of chocolates.

"Before the assaults Payne came over and said there was a lot of noise taking place and Mr. Sidhu shut his front door because he was being shouted at by the defendant.

"Mr. Sidhu had taken his family out for the day when Payne approached Mr. Nochowicz, who was standing by a skip and asked: 'What's going on?'

"He did not reply to the defendant and returned to the house, but Payne forced open the front door with a kick, barged past and began running upstairs.

"Mr. Nochowicz grabbed his arm and Payne turned and punched him twice with his right hand to the nose and mouth."

The builder rushed to the sink in pain and later told police: "I was shocked and bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth."

Mr. Sidhu was telephoned and immediately returned home and knocked on Payne's front door.

The victim told police: "He had a red bat in his left hand and raised the bat and struck me with it on the right side of the face.

"I believe if I had not moved I would have suffered a far more serious blow to my head. He then hit me again on the right side of the body near my rib cage."

Mr. Sidhu feared he was about to be hit for a third time and kicked Payne, who fell backwards onto the floor.

"Police were called and Payne was arrested," explained Mr. Gardner. "He told them he was fed up with the noise.

"The box of chocolates the Sidhu's gave them was unceremoniously hurled over the fence after this incident."

Miss Clodagh Callenam said: "Mr. Payne is rather set in his ways and was clearly upset by the noise and found it difficult to deal with because he is set in his routine.

"He believes you are not allowed to carry out works on your home at the weekend and found this grating, grating, grating on his nerves. It was the only thing going on in his life."

The defendant also believed his permission was needed for work on the chimney separating the properties to begin and heard the upstairs breast being demolished.

"He was at the end of his tether at this disruption in his life and he wanted to get upstairs to see if the chimney breast was being worked on."

The Sidhu's also plan building an extention to the rear of their property.

Payne was bailed until March 8 for sentencing.

Health Care Worker Was Illegal Immigrant With Bogus Paperwork

An illegal immigrant, who got away with a £136,000 employment scam at a leading teaching hospital for nearly seven years, was jailed for eight months yesterday.

After working as a cleaner at St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington (pictured) 31 year-old Bright Amadasun used a forged passport and national insurance card to land a health care assistant's job.

Amadasun, of Newick Road, Clapton typically took patients' blood for testing during a working day and was a respected member of the medical team praised for his "reliability and honesty" by his manager.

He pleaded guilty at Isleworth Crown Court to using a forged Nigerian passport between May 30, 2005 and December 20, last year and fraudulently disclosing false information to the hospital between the same dates.

Repeated applications for leave to remain in the UK have been turned down since Amadasun entered the country illegally in 1995 and his marriage plans were scrapped when arrested.

However, he remains determined to pursue a spousal application, which would allow him to remain legally and so far the Home Office have failed to properly issue deportation papers.

A prison sentence of below twelve months also means the automatic deportation procedure will not be triggered as a result of this conviction.

Prosecutor Miss Ruxana Nasser told the court checks revealed Amadasun's identity documentation was bogus and when arrested told police he paid £500 for them.

"He bought them in order to work in this country."

The forged national insurance card was never found by police and Amadasun claimed East London University had his forged passport after he applied for a business course.

His lawyer, Miss Ayesha Khan, told the court Amadasun left his native Nigeria as a teenager to be reunited with his mother who had settled in the UK.

"He worked as a cleaner at St. Mary's and applied for the health care job through the hospital trust with the false passport.

"His manager praises his reliability and honesty, describing as a self-motivated, God-fearing individual.

"He was due to be married this month, but due to his remand in custody this has not been possible and he hopes he can get married and claim leave to remain in the UK as soon as possible."

The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to bring proceeds of crime act proceedings against Amadasun in relation to the £136,000.

Judge Anne Molyneux told the defendant: "You entered the UK illegally and were reunited with your mother and began building a life. You worked well and you worked hard and you supported yourself and your mother.

"You also gave police a full and honest account of yourself and your circumstances."

B-O-B Squad Probe Shooting And Double Stabbing

Police are appealing for witnesses to a violent North London incident, in which one man was shot and two stabbed, when trouble flared at a function.

Operation Trident detectives – who investigate violent black-on-black crime in the capital – are probing the shooting and double stabbing.

Police were called at 6.00am on February 12 to reports of shots fired in Lawrence Road, South Tottenham (pictured).

The three victims, plus another injured man, all aged in their twenties and thirties, were rushed by ambulance to hospital where the original three remain in a serious condition.

The fourth man, who had a head injury, was discharged after treatment.

Witnesses are urged to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Ealing Scumwatch Captures Two Wannabe Burglars

Police are hunting these two hammer-wielding burglars, who tried to smash open an elderly woman’s back door, during an audacious daylight West London break-in.

On January 4 the victim heard a knock on her front door in Almond Avenue, Ealing at 2.15pm and one of the suspects was looking through her front-room window.

Minutes later a second suspect – carrying a hammer – jumped over the back garden fence and was joined by his accomplice in trying to break through the rear door.

They were disturbed and fled, but luckily were captured on these CCTV images.

The first suspect is described as a black male, aged between 17 - 23 and approx 5'10" tall.

He was wearing dark grey tracksuit bottoms, black trainers, a dark top and a green cap with a black visor.

He has shoulder length cane rows/braids in his hair, which was put behind his ears and he appeared to have some stubble on his chin.



The second suspect is described as a white youth, aged around 17 and is approx 5'9" tall.

He was wearing black trainers, blue denim jeans, a black and navy blue American style jock jacket with '3' symbol on the left side, a blue and white check shirt and black and white goalkeeper gloves. 



Police Constable Donna Coker of Ealing Burglary Squad said: “We are very keen to speak to the men in the CCTV as we know they were in the area at the time of the incident and ask for anyone who knows who or where they are to contact us.” 



Anyone with any information is asked to contact Ealing Robbery Squad, quoting reference J-40-12 on 0208 721 7212 or call Crimestoppers Anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Young Mum Butchered By Knife-Wielding Ex

A terrified mother-of-two tried to flee for her life after a chance meeting with her violent ex, but was killed by twenty stab wounds as she attempted to escape in a car.

Zandra Maxwell-Nelson, 24, (pic.top) of Nicoll Road, Willesden, North-West London had just enjoyed a picnic with her ex-husband’s sister and their children.

However, when they returned to the sister’s address in Durban Road, Tottenham, North London, Nathaniel Brown, 27, (pic.bottom) who had not seen his ex-wife for over a year attacked her with a kitchen knife.

After a two-week Old Bailey trial Brown was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a twenty-one year minimum recommendation.

Zandra ran to her parked car at 6.00pm on April 20, last year as Brown began stabbing her, but she received further wounds in the vehicle.

He then dropped the knife in the street and removed his bloodstained shirt.

Zandra was rushed to the Royal London Hospital, but was pronounced dead two-and-a-half hours later.

Seven Arrested In Crack Cocaine Raids

Police seized fifty rocks of crack cocaine and over £2,000 cash in a series of co-ordinated early hours swoops as part of Hackney’s Operation Bantam.

Backed-up by the Territorial Support Group officers raided addresses in East London and East Sussex on January 31 and February 1 – arresting seven people on suspicion of drug-dealing.

The sub-Operation Jakelwood is a covert proactive police operation aimed at arresting gang members and gun-crime suspects responsible for crime in the borough.

Two Hackney women, aged 38 and 59 were taken into custody along with three men aged 26, 21 and age unknown, plus two East Sussex men aged 33 and 44.

Acting Superintendent Jackie Sebire, of Hackney borough's CID, said: “This operation has been a real team Met effort and I would like to extend my thanks to the TSG teams that have assisted with this operation, along with CATO for their continued support.

“This operation is a further example of how the police coupled with Hackney Council will not tolerate criminal gangs.

“We will respond with a myriad of tactics to effectively target and disrupt those involved.”

Toture Gang Convicted Of Robbing Ex-Queen Mum Aide

Three members of a brutal car-jacking gang - who kidnapped and robbed a former royal aide to the Queen Mother - will be sentenced next month.

The victim was beaten by the gang, who tied him up and forced him to strip naked in a lock-up, while demanding his bank PIN numbers.

Ex-Army Captain Niall Hall, 50, (pic.top) of Great Munden, Hertfordshire suffered a fractured left eye socket, plus damage to the eye, bleeding to the brain, a broken tooth, swelling and abrasions to his face and cuts to his knees.

He was attacked by three men armed with a machete on February 1 after parking his Land Rover Freelander in Bridge Lane, Battersea at 11.20pm and driven to the lock-up with his coat over his head.

This week at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court two of the gang were found guilty by a jury of kidnap and robbery and will be sentenced on March 16.

They are: Derwen Ellis, 30, (pic.2nd top) of Westbridge Road, Battersea and Martin Dias, 29, (pic.3rd top) of nearby Parkham Street.

They will be joined by 21 year-old Arron Miller, (pic.bottom) of Eccles Road, Battersea, who pleaded guilty to the same two counts before the trial.

Brian Gilbert, 19, of Cranmer House, Surrey Lane, Battersea was cleared on both counts and Dias's ex-girlfriend Kizzy Miller, 33, of Surrey Lane, Battersea was cleared of encouraging or assisting the offences of kidnap and robbery.

"As he was collecting items from the rear seat he realised he was surrounded by three men," prosecutor Mr. Bill McGivern told the jury.

"Believing he was about to be attacked he started to run off, but was quickly caught, overpowered and brought to the ground. One of them men came up close to his face and threatened him with a mini-machete if he did not co-operate.

"The male then demanded his expensive watch, which he handed over. He was also forced to give up his wallet.

"Mr. Hall was bundled into his car, his head covered with his coat, and the car driven off. As it was travelling he was threatened with a knife, which was held against his upper chest and groin."

The victim was tied and forced onto the lock-up's concrete floor behind a steel door until he gave the gang his bank PIN numbers at knife-point and cash was withdrawn at a Tesco's ATM in Battersea Park Road from two accounts within minutes.

He was stripped naked and forced into a change of clothes and dumped in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea with a wet towel over his head.

His vehicle was found on May 25 in Francis Barber Close, Streatham and police later identified the lock-up as an electrical shed splattered with Mr. Hall's blood and with items of his clothing still inside.