Call centres under scrutiny
An investigation into the sale of the personal banking and credit card details of 1,000 Britons are likely to include call centres used by British retailers for online phone sales (Stewart Tendler writes).
Detectives and financial experts suspect at least some of the information may have come from centres used by retailers such as mobile phone companies who have sent part of their operations abroad to save costs.
Advertisement
The leaks have been blamed on call centres used by British banks and building societies but experts who have examined material passed by The Sun to detectives say that some of the information would not be held by banks.
The information that was sold included addresses, passwords, credit card details, passport and driving licence information and in some cases there were also the issue and expiry dates of bank cards.
Canals saved
The go-ahead has been given for the £11 million restoration of the Droitwich Canals, the early arteries of the Industrial Revolution in the Black Country. Work is scheduled to begin on the Droitwich Barge and Junction canals in Worcestershire before the end of the year, British Waterways said.
Advertisement
Owen marries
Michael Owen, the England footballer, has married his childhood sweetheart, Louise Bonsall. The Real Madrid striker and his long-term girlfriend were wed in a private ceremony attended by family and close friends, at a hotel close to their home in Flintshire, North Wales, a source close to the player said.
Orchids stolen
Advertisement
Rare orchids have been stolen from a conservation area near Clatterbridge, the Wirral. More than 12 Southern Marsh orchids were taken in the raid — a crime which carries a maximum fine of £5,000 or a penalty of six months in prison. The “priceless” flowers are not available for sale anywhere in the country.
Luftwaffe inquest
The body of a Second World War airman has been found 62 years after his bomber was shot down. The German Dornier 217 was shot down over Fernhurst, West Sussex, in March, 1943. Sussex Police said an inquest into the death of Franz Huske, 21, would be opened. Efforts are being made to trace his next of kin.
Fall in arrests of drug dealers
Advertisement
The number of cocaine dealers arrested in London has fallen by a third since cannabis was reclassified, despite a huge surge in the popularity of cocaine. The dramatic fall in arrests casts doubt on the Goverment’s decision to reclassify cannabis in order to focus police time on catching the dealers of hard drugs. Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, has indicated that he may reverse David Blunkett’s decision to make cannabis a Class C drug.
In March, Mr Clarke commissioned a review into the mental health problems caused by cannabis, but figures showing that hard-drug dealers are also benefiting from the policy may be the final straw for the Home Secretary. Use of heroin and cocaine in England and Wales has risen to one million, a record, with cocaine use quadrupling since 1996.
Shark attack
Conservationists have attacked an entrepreneur’s plan to use Britain’s shark population to exploit the lucrative Far East restaurant trade. Trevor Page, 55, a fish dealer from Lowestoft, will next month begin catching 300 sharks a week. He has drawn up a contract to export their dorsal fins to China.
Pilot sentenced
Advertisement
A Norwegian court sentenced William McAuliffe, 51, a British Airways pilot who in 2003 prepared to fly even though members of his crew were drunk, to six months in prison. The flight’s purser was sentenced to 45 days for being drunk on duty. Neither was present at the trial, but they may be extradited. (AP)
Fraudster jailed
A solicitor who stole £825,000 by defrauding the Inland Revenue with a bogus account in the name of “I Revue” was jailed for three years and nine months. Ian Macfarlane, 45, of Winterborne Kingston, Dorset, kept clients’ stamp duty payments over eight years, Bournemouth Crown Court was told.
Bluetooth thefts
Thieves are using Bluetooth technology to scour parked cars for mobile phones and laptop computers, police believe. The wireless software allows users to detect any mobile phones, PCs, palmtop computers and camcorders that are equipped with Bluetooth within a radius of 50m (160ft).
Big Brother exit
Roberto Conte, a teacher from Liverpool, became the fourth person to be voted out of the Big Brother house last night. The 32-year-old Italian edged ahead of Derek Laud in one of the closest votes in the history of the reality television series. Roberto’s vacant place will be taken by three new entrants to the house.
Protest camp wins approval
Stirling Council has approved plans for a campsite and eco-village for thousands of anti-capitalism campaigners travelling to Scotland for the forthcoming G8 summit at Gleneagles.
Councillors said that they were satisfied with assurances given to them by the Convergence 2005 Collective, which is behind the plans. Their support for a public entertainment licence for the site near the football stadium is despite a toughly worded letter of objection from Andrew Cameron, Central Scotland police chief.
More than 5,000 people are expected to gather for up to ten days on the council-owned disused farmland. The campsite is expected to accommodate the most radical elements of the protest movement, some of whom are planning road blockades to disrupt the summit.