Boys among immigrants found gassed in tanker
Two boys aged 12 and 16 were among eight suspected illegal immigrants discovered inside a tanker lorry yesterday, after fumes from a chemical load caused them breathing difficulties (Rajeev Syal writes).
The group, believed to be Eritreans, were taken to local hospitals and later arrested under immigration legislation. The driver, 55, was detained for suspected people-trafficking.
Police were called to the incident in southeast London at 8am after the driver had stopped to check his load. Workmen heard banging coming from the back of the tanker and told the driver.
Witnesses said that emergency workers hauled the suspected stowaways out of a hatch on top of the tanker, above, which is owned by a German company that has an office in Runcorn, Cheshire.
Advertisement
Man ‘forgot’ dead lodger
A council tenant lived with the decomposed body of his lodger for between five and ten years after the man died on his sofa (Simon de Bruxelles writes).
Alan Derek said he “forgot” that Derek Pring was there after he turned over the sofa to hide the body. The remains were found by council workers called in by neighbours complaining about the smell emanating from the flat in Bedminster, Bristol.
Mr Derek said he was “too scared” to tell anyone about his friend’s death in case his benefits were stopped for having an unofficial lodger.
A police spokesman said that although withholding information about a corpse was an offence, it was unlikely that Mr Derek would face charges. He said: “There are no suspicious circumstances and there is no evidence that any crime had been committed.”
Advertisement
Breezeblock killer named
A youth described as feral, who killed a lorry driver by dropping a 44lb (20kg) breezeblock from a bridge over a dual carriageway, has been sentenced to 40 months’ detention.
Dean Ingram, 15, appeared at Northampton Crown Court for sentence yesterday after previously pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Laurence McCourt, 68. Mr McCourt died almost instantly when the block smashed through his windscreen and crushed his chest in the early hours of Friday July 27 last year.
Jamie Winter, also 15, was sentenced to 12 months’ detention and training for causing danger to road users on the same night. Judge Charles Wide, QC, ruled that the two youths could be identified, saying: “The public has a right to know.”
Crying over spilt milk
Advertisement
A 20-mile (32 km) trail of spilt milk and smashed bottles caused traffic chaos in Dorset after a delivery driver left his rear door open (Simon de Bruxelles writes).
More than 1,000 glass and plastic bottles containing 500 gallons of milk and cream fell off the back of the lorry without being noticed by the driver.
He was stopped two hours later on the A337 in Hampshire by police. Inspector Andy Earley, of Dorset Police, said: “There was milk over roundabouts, under flyovers, on a dual carriageway and on town centre roads.”
It took six hours for council cleaners to sweep the roads and soak up the mess with grit and sand.
Phil Gibson, spokesman for Dairy Farmers of Britain, in Portsmouth, which owns the lorry, said there had been a fault with the door.
Advertisement
Rape case dropped
A man accused of raping a teenager who days later plunged to her death from a motorway bridge has walked free from court after the charges were dropped. The body of Sara Clark, 18, was found on the M27 near Southampton on June 2 last year. Her parents said that they felt that their daughter had killed herself because the police had not taken her allegation of rape seriously. Rape charges against Jagat Mawari, 30, were dropped at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Boy crushed by 4x4
An 18-month-old boy was crushed and killed when a Land Rover driven by his father was reversing towards the family’s driveway. The child, Jake Younger, was flown to hospital in a police helicopter but was later pronounced dead. The vehicle was driven by Neil Lawson, 29, a former metal packer, who lives with the boy’s mother Julie Younger, 25, and his elder brother Owen, 5, in the village of Kibblesworth, near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
Ruling on royal wills
Advertisement
Robert Brown, 53, an accountant from Jersey, who believes that he could be the child of Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend has won the right to a hearing of his request to access royal wills. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, and two other judges said that Mr Brown was entitled to a hearing of his claim to inspect the wills of Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother even though his claims were irrational.