A book highly recommended for extreme feminists and the BBC's domestic violence team
who must outnumber all other BBC departments by 10 to 1 for the enormous amount of gender
hatred imposed on British Citizens by this public broadcast propaganda machine.
EVIL is NOT gender based
From the Florida roadside prostitute and first convicted serial killer Aileen Wuomos to the Empress poisoner of ancient Rome, this is the biggest collection of the world's most dangerous women newly revised and expanded, including: Rutn Snyder, the last woman in the US to go to the electric chair; the English multiple murderess who chopped up the bodies of children and scattered them from a plane; Rosemary West - unsuspecting dupe or cold-blooded killer, the mother who hired a killer to eliminate her daughter-in-law; Lizzie Borden - separating fact from fiction; Myra Hindley - Britain's most infamous murderess. * Revised and updated: includes a new section on Rosemary West *
First edition sold in excess of 7,000 copies *
Resurgence of interest in true crime cases
February 2002 : Paperback Top
IS THIS JUSTICE? 14 YEARS AFTER STABBING FIANCE TO DEATH SHE'S OUT SHOPPING
Sunglasses perched on her blonde head and carrier bags in hand, Tracie Andrews could not have looked more carefree, browsing through the stores of York city centre last Saturday.
In her pink cardigan, she could have passed for any fashionable forty-something out on a sunny weekend shopping spree.
For who would recognise convicted murderer Tracie Andrews today, her features softened by £5,000 of cosmetic surgery to realign her protruding jaw — an operation carried out last year on the NHS.
Andrews — or Tia Carter, as she now likes to be known — is due to be released on licence next year after serving 15 years of a life sentence.
On Saturday, she was allowed out from Askham Grange open prison in preparation for that day.
But as she wandered through the city’s market district with a female friend, one wonders if she spared a thought for Lee Harvey, the fiance she brutally murdered in December 1996.
As she laughed over a cappuccino, did she feel any remorse for the man she stabbed 42 times during a furious row as they drove down a quiet, leafy lane in Worcestershire?
Did she consider the feelings of Lee’s parents, Maureen and Ray, and his sister Michelle, all of whom she lied to after the murder, insisting Lee had been the victim of a crazed ‘road rage’ killer?
If she did, then she kept it well hidden. Which makes Andrews’s imminent release all the more distressing for Lee’s family, who feel justice has simply not been done in this case.
True, they had been warned by the authorities that Andrews would be going out on day release, but that makes it no easier. Bitter does not even begin to describe how they feel.
And while the Ministry of Justice this week said of inmates’ resettlement schemes ‘Only those assessed as representing minimal risk of escape or risk of harm to the public are eligible’, the Harveys are equally eloquent about the lack of understanding for victims’ families.
'When she got angry with Lee she'd attack him and kick him our of her flat, and he'd turn up at Mum's house covered in bites, cuts and bruises.'
For 14 years, Lee’s sister Michelle Harvey-Gill has borne her own grief privately. The 41-year-old married teaching assistant and mother of two has never spoken publicly about her brother’s murder, but she has lived with the trauma of it every day since.
The word forgiveness is not in her lexicon when it comes to Tracie Andrews.
‘Life should mean life, not 15 years,’ she says. ‘Why should she get a second
chance when my poor brother gets none?
‘When she murdered Lee she ruined all our lives, so how come she’s the one getting all the help rebuilding her life, going on shopping sprees?
‘No one helped us re-integrate into the community or rehabilitated us. We had no support.
‘What does it say about our society when criminals are treated better than victims? Our life sentence, which began the day Lee died, will never end.’
Lee’s mother Maureen, now 64, had to close down the hairdressing salon she ran with daughter Michelle because of the stress of the murder trial.
For two years after the trial, Michelle suffered panic attacks and, for a while, had to be prescribed antidepressants.
Last year, Lee’s daughter from a previous relationship, 18-year-old Danielle, wrote to Andrews in prison demanding to know why she killed her father.
Danielle was five when her father was murdered. Seemingly, she received no reply.
Even Andrews’s closest friends — who cannot accept she killed in cold blood — admit she refuses to talk about Lee or what happened that night.
She once reportedly told a fellow prison inmate that there was no point in ‘crying over spilt milk’.
It wasn’t until 21 months after her conviction, having failed in her appeal, that Andrews finally confessed to the killing in a letter from prison, later claiming she acted in self-defence when Lee attacked her.
Lee’s mother Maureen has one answer to this.
‘There were 42 wounds on Lee’s body,’ she says. ‘One of the stab wounds was to his back, and I believe that was the first. I think she lunged at him as he was walking away from her. There were little nicks around his neck, which makes me think she taunted him before inflicting the stab wound which killed him.’
What kind of woman could do such a thing? The Harveys believe they know. And regardless of what the parole board may think, they remain unconvinced that she is a reformed character.
Lee, an easy-going and fun-loving bus driver, met Tracie in a nightclub in 1994. She was a glamorous single mother (her daughter, Karla, was then aged four) who ran a market stall selling perfume and had big dreams of becoming a model.
Michelle recalls: ‘When I first met Tracie, she seemed very friendly and my first reaction was “Wow, she’s attractive”.
In fact, I said to Lee: “How did you manage to pull her?” I’d never seen Lee so excited about a girl before. He kept saying how great she was — he thought she was fantastic.
‘But very soon I had my doubts. She seemed very insecure.
'I'd never seen Lee so excited about a girl before. He kept saying how great she was - he thought she was fantastic.'
‘I had her whole life history in half an hour. She kept saying how tough her life had been. Her father had left her mother when she was young. She didn’t get on with her stepfather, and she said she’d had a bad time with her ex and his family.
‘She was slating almost everyone in her life, and I started to feel very uncomfortable hearing her criticising people we didn’t even know.
‘Then, in 1995, my husband Steve and I decided to announce our engagement at a family party, but instead of being happy for us, Tracie went into a complete strop and stormed out, shouting: “Trust her to get in there first and announce her engagement before me!” ’
Lee’s mother Maureen adds: ‘I welcomed her into my home and tried to make her feel one of the family, but she was a Jekyll and Hyde character. One minute she could be sweetness and light, and the next she’d throw a tantrum.’
Andrews, say the family, had a pathological need to be the centre of attention.
Maureen recalls a time when the whole family were watching the film Fatal Attraction, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close as a married man and his vengeful mistress, who tries to kill him when he rejects her.
‘We were all sitting there with our popcorn enjoying the film when Tracie suddenly picked up a cushion and viciously hit Lee, saying: “If you ever do that to me, I’ll kill you.”
‘It wasn’t a joke, she was deadly serious. She was practically snarling.
‘Afterwards, I said to Lee that there was something wrong with Tracie, but he just laughed it off and said: “She’s mental, but I love her.” ’
Jealous and possessive, Andrews would fly into a rage if she wasn’t always at the epicentre of Lee’s world, and during their volatile two-year relationship they split up many times.
According to Michelle, Andrews felt particularly threatened by Lee’s amicable
relationship with Anita, the mother of his daughter. She wonders now if Andrews killed Lee because she was terrified they might reconcile.
‘When she got angry with Lee, she’d attack him and kick him out of her flat, and he’d turn up at Mum’s house covered in bites, cuts and bruises.
‘He’d say “That’s it, I’m not going back” — but he always would.
‘I warned him time and again that one day she’d really hurt him. I told him he was stupid to stay with her, but he loved her and would do anything for her. He bought her jewellery and he even paid for her to have a boob job after she moaned that her breasts had been ruined by motherhood.’
Maureen adds: ‘After a big row, Lee would say he’d had enough and would start going out with his mates again, but Tracie stalked him. She’d trawl every nightclub until she found him, and then went berserk if he so much as looked at another woman. If she couldn’t have him, then no one else would either.’
In May 1996, Andrews banned Lee from attending his sister’s wedding. It was done in a fit of spite after Michelle, during one of Tracie and Lee’s ‘off’ periods, withdrew the invitation to Tracie’s daughter Karla to be a bridesmaid at her wedding.
‘On the morning of the wedding, Lee turned up at my mum’s house with a present,’ says Michelle. ‘He gave me a hug, told me loved me, but said he couldn’t come. It completely tainted my big day.’
The final straw for Michelle, however, came a few weeks later when Andrews had bitten a chunk out of Lee’s neck during yet another vicious row in a nightclub. Furious at her brother’s refusal to see sense and end the relationship once and for all, Michelle stopped talking to him.
Michelle was three months pregnant with her second child when she heard on the car radio that a man had been killed in a road rage attack.
Later that night, her devastated parents told her the victim was Lee. She recalls: ‘Straight away I said: “She’s done it.” My mum had been to the hospital and spoken to too, was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt. But I said: “I’m telling you now, Tracie did it.” ’
Maureen’s husband Ray, a retired lorry driver who is now aged 66, also had his doubts about Andrews. Why, he asked, had the road rage attacker let Tracie live when she was a witness to murder?
It was Maureen who held Andrews’s hand for moral support at the Press conference, when, in a brazen act of duplicity, she tearfully described the fictitious road rage killer.
And it was Maureen who, a few days later, rushed to comfort Andrews in hospital after a failed suicide attempt, when she wrote notes saying she couldn’t go on without Lee.
The Harveys now believe Andrews’s overdose was an admission of guilt. Indeed, at the hospital she said ‘Sorry for what I have done’ to Mr and Mrs Harvey. That day, the police had questioned her about glaring discrepancies in her story. Witnesses had come forward to say that they’d hadn’t seen a Sierra chasing Lee’s Ford Escort that night after the pair left the Marlbrook pub, a two-mile drive from Tracie’s flat in Alvechurch.
Another witness to the confrontation said they’d heard only two voices arguing on the roadside — a man’s and a woman’s.
And a black hat seemingly dropped by the road rage attacker at the scene had cat hairs on it belonging to Andrews’s mother’s pet. Meanwhile, the pattern of blood splatters on Andrews’s clothes suggested it was she who had wielded the murder
weapon — an imitation Swiss army knife which Andrews would eventually admit she’d disposed of at the hospital.
The bloody imprint of a knife blade was found on the inside of Andrews’s boot, and a clump of her hair was found in Lee’s hand.
'I think she honestly believe she would get off and spent most of the trial shooting us venomous looks.'
Former boyfriends of Andrews revealed how she’d attacked them too. Yet still Andrews denied everything.
Michelle, who had her second pregnancy induced two weeks early so she could attend the trial, says: ‘I’ll never forget the first day when Tracie dramatically pointed at us sitting in the gallery and shouted: “I want to be where they are sitting, so I can see justice done, too.”
‘I think she honestly thought she would get off, and spent most of the trial shooting us venomous looks.’
So, no, the Harveys — given their experience of Tracie Andrews — do not believe her to be remorseful, let alone reformed. And even if she were, should she serve just 15 years for Lee’s murder?
‘My mum has tried to be strong, but I have heard her sobbing in her room,’ says Michelle. ‘I have heard my dad crying, too, and that’s a terrible thing to hear.’
There is nothing they can do to prevent Andrews being freed, but they have begged the Probation Service to ensure she does not live within a 50-mile radius of their homes.
The last thing they want is to bump into Lee’s murderer on one of her shopping sprees.
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Julia Lynn Womack Turner, who was convicted in 2007 of murder for the deaths by antifreeze poisoning of her boyfriend and husband, died Monday in prison in Georgia, prison officials said.
Turner "was found unresponsive in her cell at 6:55 a.m., at which time prison medical staff and EMS responded but were unable to revive her," the Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement.
The cause of death was under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's medical examiner's office. Turner was serving life without parole in the Metro State Prison for women in Atlanta.
Turner was convicted of murder for the 1995 death of her husband, police officer Glenn Turner, and for the 2001 death of her boyfriend, firefighter Randy Thompson, both of whom were poisoned with antifreeze.
Glenn Turner died March 3, 1995, from what was initially determined to be an irregular heartbeat. A week later, Turner moved in with Thompson, with whom she had begun an affair several months prior.
But it was not until Thompson died in 2001 under similar circumstances that authorities exhumed the body of Glenn Turner and performed another autopsy.
In both cases, the men had exhibited flulike symptoms before being taken to the emergency room. They both died less than 24 hours after they left the hospital, from what a coroner initially identified as heart failure.
Further examination, however, revealed traces of ethylene glycol, a byproduct of antifreeze, in both of their bodies. Cobb County prosecutors labeled the defendant a "black widow" who murdered both men for financial gain.
After her husband's death, Turner received more than $150,000 in benefits and interest from his life insurance and pension. She received about $36,000 from Thompson's death.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A letter of apology Jeannine Campbell read to the family of the boy she was seen abusing on a nannycam did not sway a judge from sentencing the 53-year-old woman to eight years in prison and seven additional years of probation.
"You have admitted in open court to abusing the most vulnerable and defenseless among us," Judge Adrian Soud said Friday afternoon in announcing the sentence. "The law rightly rushes to the defense of those so helpless."
Last month, Campbell pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse that resulted from abuse seen on hidden-camera video, showing Campbell repeatedly hitting the baby.
"My heart is screaming every day. I'm so very sorry. I had never behaved so horribly," Campbell read through tears on the witness stand. "It's hard to cope with what I did. I can't believe that someone could do it, and, my God, it was me."
Under questioning by prosecutors, she admitted that she was mad at the family, but said that is no excuse for her actions -- none of which she said she remembered until she was shown the videotape.
That statement was contradicted when the state played a recording of a telephone call Campbell made to her husband from jail in which she admitted throwing and hitting the young boy.
"I don't have to look at the tape, I know what I did. It is abuse," Campbell is heard saying. "It is definitely, most definitely abuse. I am guilty."
Campbell testified Friday that she was dealing with a lot of problems in her personal life and at home.
Amanda Hammock, the mother of the abused baby, then took the stand and said that while she once considered Campbell a friend, she now knows she knows how badly her trust was betrayed.
"She picked up him by his arms and threw him. You hit him in the head and knocked him over. You kicked him in the stomach and you hit in the head with the ball, just to name a few of the malicious and horrific things that you did to my sweet and defenseless baby boy," Hammock said. "It is truly only by the grace of God that my son came out of this attack with nothing more than a split lip and bruises."
Hammock called Campbell's reasons for hitting her son "sorry excuses," then asked Judge Soud to sentence Hammock to the maximum term -- 15 years in prison.
"My husband and I trusted you with the two most precious parts of our hearts," Hammock said from the witness stand but address to Campbell. "Not only did you betray that trust, you betrayed the trust of our children. We now have trouble trusting anyone but the closest family members to watch our children."
After a 90-minute recess, Soud announced the sentence: five years in prison on one count, three years on a second with two years probation and five years of probation on a third.
"In understanding the reality that courts do not impose sentences to extract some measure of revenge, courts do, however impose sentence to bring about consequence when the vulnerable among us are assaulted," Soud said. "I, along with probably every other person in this courtroom, am grateful for the reality that there is not appreciable, lasting injury to Ethan. That is attributable to the guiding hand of grace. It does not, in itself, mitigate your behavior."
Soud acknowledged the family's request for the full 15-years in prison, but said that given Campbell's age, that would be tantamount to a life sentence.
Both Campbell's husband and her lawyer believe she has a hormonal imbalance that contributed to her behavior.
John Campbell admits he watched the nannycam video, but said that while the woman in the video was physically his wife, she was not acting like the woman he knows.
“You spend 30 years with somebody and you know every motion, every mannerism of them, and they weren’t there. It was like someone else had taken over," John Campbell said.
According to the police report, Campbell worked for the boy’s family for two years, but after an older child had an unexplained black eye, the parents installed the hidden camera to see what was going on when they weren’t home.
The boy's parents said their youngest son has fully recovered from the abuse.
Albert Lea, MN - The Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Albert Lea probably isn’t the best place to be if you have Alzheimer’s. Oh, sure, the nurse’s aides are pretty - but they’ll also spit in your mouth, sexually abuse you, and taunt you until you cry. Which would be fine if the girls were working at the Albert Lea Dominatrix Emporium, I guess, but doesn’t work out so well in the dementia unit. After a months-long investigation, four juveniles and two legal adults are facing abuse charges. The two adults are Brianna Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Larson, 18.
I’d be inclined to think that this case was overblown if I were a casual reader. After all, these are two very pretty young white girls, right? They appear to be middle-class at least. Brianna’s old Myspace shows a pretty Albert Lea High School student - popular, on the dance team, not particularly horrid in any way.
But your favorite imp was a nurse in another life, and kids, let me tell ya - it’s not easy to get criminal charges filed in nursing home abuse cases. This investigation started in May after allegations of elder abuse were filed that dated back to January. We’re not talking about a two-week he-said she-said thing, here.
In early May, a teenage nurse’s aide was being fired from Good Samaritan for swearing in front of a resident. She decided not to go down alone, and blew the whistle on at least four other aides, alleging that they were routinely abusing their residents.
Good Samaritan immediately launched an investigation and reported the alleged abuse to the Minnesota Department of Health. The home also fired the other aides, which tells me that they were cleaning house in a CYA move - but also that they had reason to suspect the informant was telling the truth. Sounds to me like a few charge nurses shoulda gone with ‘em, but hey, that’s just me.
On August 28 of this year, the Minnesota Department of Health released their findings in their investigation of the abuse at Good Samaritan. The department investigated five aides and found that four of them, primarily Broitzman and Larson, abused fifteen residents repeatedly or witnessed “verbal, sexual and emotional” abuse and did nothing to stop it. The department filed a civil action to have the aides’ licenses pulled, and turned over their report to police.
The police investigation got a little broader and covered eight aides, of whom six have now been charged. Aside from Broitzman and Larson, the remaining four are being charged with legally mandated failure to report abuse - in other words, they knew what was happening and didn’t do anything. Two of the teens, Alicia Heilmann (Myspace) and Morgan Walton (Myspace) were juveniles when the crimes were committed, but are both now 18. They’re being tried in juvenile court.
During interviews with investigators, Brianna Broitzman admitted that she and Ashton Larson took photos and videos of residents for fun. She said that they also poked one female dementia patient in the breast. Ashton Larson was a bit more forthcoming, and admitted to various abuses including spitting, holding her hand over a resident’s mouth, dry-humping residents, sticking her finger in a resident’s anus, touching a resident’s ass, and getting in bed with residents. Er, what? Seriously? Ew. Just ewww, Ashton!
Other aides reported that most of the aides knew about the abuse, because it was discussed and laughed over at breaks. Several aides reported that Brianna and Ashton dispensed spankings to residents, teased them, and poked them in the genitals. One girl reported that Brianna mooned a resident up close, sticking her bare butt in the resident’s face, and that Ashton rubbed resident’s genitals in an attempt to get them sexually aroused. Okay, again… say what? Come on, now. And this went on for months without anyone saying a word until some kid got fired for cussing? Something was clearly very wrong at the Good Samaritan, y’all.
Brianna Broitzman is charged with three counts of assault in the fifth degree of a caregiver to a vulnerable adult, three counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult, three counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, one instance of disorderly conduct by a caregiver, and one instance of mandated reporter failure to report. For that, she faces some $22,000 in fines, or a year in prison for each count.
Ashton Larson is charged with two counts of assault in the fifth degree of a caregiver to a vulnerable adult, one count of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult, four counts of criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, two counts of disorderly conduct by a caregiver and one count of mandated reporter failure to report. She’s looking at $28,000 in fines, or a year in prison on each count.
Here’s the thing, though. Already prosecutors are saying that it’s unlikely the girls will do any jail time at all. Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson says that Brianna and Ashton “most likely will face suspended jail sentences and probation, so they’d have the threat of jail hanging over them if they get in more trouble.” Oh, well. That’ll teach ‘em to behave, Mr. Nelson. Really?
BRENTWOOD – Kristin Ruggiero will spend 7 to 14 years in state prison for what police say was part of a years-long ploy to use the criminal justice system against her ex-husband, who was thrown in jail and nearly lost his career during a bitter divorce.
Judge Kenneth McHugh said Ruggiero's attempt to set up her ex-husband and use the legal system as a weapon was unlike any other case he has seen.
"There's a lot of people, usually women, who have been subjected to abuse by their significant others," McHugh said, during Ruggiero's sentencing yesterday. "As a result of her actions, their cases, their safety, their security has been damaged. The web for this is much greater than what has just happened to Mr. Ruggiero."
A jury found that Kristin Ruggiero registered a disposable cell phone under her ex-husband's name and sent herself a dozen threatening and suicidal text messages. She then reported to East Kingston police in May 2008 that her ex-husband had violated bail conditions tied to a criminal threatening case, which police learned was also fabricated by the 34-year-old mother.
RUGGIERO
By portraying herself as a victim, she duped local police and portrayed her ex-husband, Jeffrey Ruggiero, as a violent monster while the couple was going through a contentious divorce in family court, according to prosecutors.
The couple battled over finances and their 7-year-old daughter.
While Jeffrey Ruggiero was being investigated, his ex-wife called him at all hours and taunted him over the phone, according to court testimony.
"She mocked him. She laughed at him. (She said) 'I took all your money, I took your daughter and now I am going to take your career'," Assistant County Attorney Jerome Blanchard said in court yesterday.
He said Ruggiero's folly came because claims in criminal court had to be backed up -- unlike in family court where she made repeated claims about ex-husband's behavior.
"Unfortunately for her, we're not in family court anymore," Blanchard said.
Blanchard argued that Ruggiero continued to try to manipulate the justice system, even after her conviction in May from her jail cell.
In a series of recorded phone calls from the jail played in court, Ruggiero asked her mother to get a letter from a doctor, which would claim that Ruggiero suffered a form of psychosis stemming from addiction to Adderall and alcohol.
"I'm going to pull the mental health card, you know what I mean?" Ruggiero says during the call, which was played in court. "It has to be outpatient in the United States and I can live at home."
But yesterday, Ruggiero sobbed to McHugh. She apologized for comments she made about the judge and his heart bypass surgery during another phone call.
"Dad, guess what? Judge McHugh had a quadruple bypass!" Ruggiero said during the phone call, only a small portion of which was played in court.
McHugh told prosecutors to skip over that call, saying it wasn't necessary for the sentencing hearing.
McHugh said it's likely that Ruggiero cannot be rehabilitated. He told Ruggiero he found her apology yesterday disingenuous.
Defense lawyer Chuck Keefe argued that his client was a caring mother whose judgment may have been affected because she suffered from drug and alcohol dependency.
"I want to say here what the state offers is a sentence of extermination," Keefe said, while proposing a 12-month jail sentence for Ruggiero.
Before her arrest in September 2008, Ruggiero nearly had the criminal justice and family court system fooled, according to prosecutors. A district court judge convicted Jeffrey Ruggiero of misdemeanor criminal threatening and related charges, but refused to jail him before sentencing.
That allowed Jeffrey Ruggiero to remain free on bail and return to his job as a petty officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.
It enraged Kristin Ruggiero so much that she came up with the scheme about receiving a series of threatening and suicidal text messages. Ruggiero was sentenced on 12 counts of falsifying physical evidence, which each carry a potential 3 1/2 to 7-year prison term.
The case that McHugh repeatedly described as "bizarre" yesterday may not be over.
Prosecutors revealed during Ruggiero's sentencing hearing that a new criminal investigation related to her is under way.
Ruggiero was also ordered to pay $19,000 in restitution to the East Kingston police department, which conducted the investigation.
ONE OF UK'S MOST NOTORIOUS FEMALE MURDERERS OUT OF PRISON ON A SHOPPING SPREE
Another EVIL women the radical feminists and womens aid refuse to admit exist
Road rage murderer Tracie Andrews 'let out of jail for eight-hour shopping spree'
One of Britain's most notorious female murderers has been let out of prison for a shopping spree, it has been revealed.
Tracie Andrews, who is serving a life sentence after stabbing boyfriend Lee Harvey to death and claiming he was the victim of a road rage attack, enjoyed a leisurely eight-hour day out, stopping for lunch and buying clothes.
The day trips come ahead of Andrews' planned release next year and have angered Mr Harvey's mother Maureen.
Wearing sunglasses and carrying a designer handbag, Andrews caught the bus to York on Saturday after being released from Askham Grange open prison, the Sun reported.
Once in town she met up with a friend for coffee before strolling through the shops to pick up some DVDs, clothes, sportswear and beauty products.
The friends stopped for lunch at a local Nando's restaurant before continuing to peruse the stores.
Andrews appeared to be enjoying herself and was seen frequently chatting on her mobile.
She is being allowed on days out to prepare for her full release next year after serving 15 years of a life sentence for murdering her boyfriend.
Maureen Harvey, 62, told The Sun: 'To be honest, it's very upsetting and traumatic.'
A prison source said: 'Tracie is one of Britain's most notorious killers and people will be alarmed to know that she's out on shopping trips.
'Crime victims will be disgusted to see such leniency.'
Mr Harvey, 25, bled to death in a country lane in December 1996.
Andrews concocted a story that he had been murdered by a wild-eyed maniac, but it was she who cut her fiance's throat and stabbed him 37 times.
The murderer, 40 - who has had a string of lesbian affairs behind bars and now calls herself Tia Carter - was back in the headlines last year when it was revealed that she underwent a £5,000 plastic surgery operation at the taxpayers' expense.
She was admitted to Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford for four days to undergo surgery to realign her jaw.
She was jailed for life, with a recommendation that she should serve at least 14 years.
WOMEN IN SUICIDE STAND OFF AFTER AXING HUSBAND TO DEATH
Woman in suicide stand-off with police at Beachy Head after Ferrari-driving husband is found bludgeoned to death
* Richard Challen discovered bludgeoned to death
* His wife Sally threatened to commit suicide off Beachy Head
* Neighbour: 'Challens split over his use of prostitutes'
A suicidal woman who was threatening to throw herself off Beachy Head allegedly told police she had bludgeoned her Ferrari-owning husband to death with a hammer.
The 56-year-old, who has been named as Sally Challen, was eventually talked down after a tense three-hour stand-off at the beauty spot which is also notorious as a suicide hotspot.
She allegedly killed her estranged husband, identified locally as Richard Challen, 61, at their former marital home in Claygate, Surrey, before driving 70 miles to the East Sussex site.
It is believed the couple were in the process of going through divorce proceedings and had split around a year ago. His body was discovered by officers on Sunday afternoon.
One neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'They separated about a year ago and she moved just around the corner. The rumour was that he was seeing prostitutes and that is why she left him.
'They have two sons, the older one lived with Richard and the younger one lived with her.
'She had bought this new house with money she inherited from her mum.'
He added that he believed the couple had been experiencing financial difficulties.
Mr Challen was a car enthusiast who owned a £60,000 Ferrari Berlinetta and was given a 51-week suspended sentence in 2006 for fraud.
He told insurers he had been involved in a hit-and-run accident, but in fact had crashed the sports car while racing in Belgium.
Teams of police officers and chaplains were scrambled to the top of the 530ft cliff after Mrs Challen threatened to kill herself.
She was eventually escorted to safety from the cliff-edge before being arrested on suspicion of murder.
A murder investigation was launched by Surrey Police after they were called to the large, four-bedroom detached property in Ruxley Ridge just after 1pm yesterday and discovered the body.
Teams of forensic officers are searching the crime scene, which is on the same street where Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie Wood lives, for clues about the death.
A post-mortem examination to establish how Mr Challen died is scheduled to take place at the Royal Surrey County Hospital.
A spokesman for Surrey Police said: 'Surrey Police has launched a murder investigation after the body of a man was found at a property in Claygate.
'The man, aged in his 60s, was found by officers at an address in Ruxley Ridge, Claygate, shortly after 1pm on Sunday.
'A 56 year-old woman from Claygate has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody.'
Police negotiators were called to Beachy Head yesterday afternoon after receiving reports that Mrs Challen, was heading there.
They found her car in a car park at the notorious suicide spot, before finding her on the cliff face.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: 'Officers and chaplains managed to escort a 56-year-old Surrey woman to safety from the cliff edge at Beachy Head, after talking to her for more than three hours on Sunday afternoon.
'Officers had gone to the area after a report that the woman might be making her way there, and found her car parked nearby.
'The woman, who was unhurt, was detained for a welfare assessment.'
Surrey Police officers arrested Mrs Challen at Eastbourne custody centre before she was taken back to Surrey for interview.
Detectives are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.
Mr Challen set up Westlake Garages in Richmond, Surrey, in 1986, before selling it in 2008.
The new owner of Westlake Garages, Paul Arulndran, 37, described Mr Challen as 'a good bloke'.
'He said he and his wife had split up around a year ago and they were going through the process of a divorce,' he said.
'They were not living together.
'I bought the business off him in 2008 because he said he was retiring. He still used to come in regularly though to get his mail and check how things were going.
'He was a very, very nice guy and very straightforward. I am in complete shock.'
Mr Arulndran said Mr Challen last visited the garage a month ago.
A friend of the couple, who did not wish to be named, said: 'I had known them for about 20 years. It's too early to say much, it's all still sinking in, we're just in shock now.'
'We lost touch over the last couple of years. They used to visit us and came to our house for dinner. I knew they weren't getting along, I knew they had separated, but I didn't expect that sort of thing to happen.
'We knew them on a social level, we had dinner with them at their house or our house. My daughter knew their children, but they weren't close friends, it was just through us.
'She was extremely lonely after she moved, but I had heard they were possibly getting back together again so I can only assume something went terribly wrong.'
A neighbour of Mrs Challen's home in nearby Ashton Place, said: 'She moved in there around the time that she separated from her husband.
'We did see her leave yesterday in the morning and that was the last we saw until we heard from someone else that this had happened.
'She was trying to get back with her husband.
'I always used to see the sons and I think they had both moved in there.
'I think they both lived there because one of them was unhappy with the size of his bedroom so they converted the garage and that's now a bedroom.'
He added: 'She was a nice, friendly person.
'All I know is that a body was brought out of the house on Ruxley Ridge on Sunday.
'I didn't know whether it was her or him. I heard about it when I spoke to a mutual friend who lives nearby.'
Clifford Budgen, who lives opposite the murder scene on Ruxley Ridge, returned from a holiday to Edinburgh to the news that one of his neighbours had been murdered.
He said: 'I just heard about if from a couple of people who were passing by. Apparently they had been trying to get back together. She was seen in the garage, clearing out boxes.
'I didn't really know them all that well, they were quite introverted.
'There was trouble a couple of years ago when he smashed up a sports car and then I remember another time when he pretty much took off the side of someone else's car but he denied it. That caused a bit of friction, but it was a while ago now.
'He was quite an odd man, he wasn't easy to get on with.'
IRAN WOMAN FACING STONING CONFESSES TO COMPLICITY IN MURDER OF HUSBAND
In televised interview, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani describes how she struck up relationship with husband's cousin, who later killed her husband 'by connecting him to the electricity.' Defense attorney: She was tortured before interview
An Iranian woman whose sentencing to death by stoning has sparked international outrage has apparently confessed to adultery and talked about her husband's killing in a state television interview.
In the interview, aired on Wednesday night, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani also criticized her lawyer for publicizing her case, saying it had brought shame on her family.
Human rights attorney who saved lives of dozens of clients declares war on Iranian regime
A human rights campaign group, the International Committee Against Stoning, called the TV show "toxic propaganda". Ashtiani had previously denied the adultery accusations against her.
International media attention given to the case has highlighted Iran's high number of executions and may have spared Ashtiani from being stoned to death, according to her lawyer, who has fled to Europe.
With her face blurred and her words voiced over to translate them into Farsi from local dialect, it was not immediately possible to independently verify the woman's identity.
Ashtiani described how she had struck up a relationship with her husband's cousin.
"He told me: 'Let's kill your husband'. I totally could not believe that my husband would be killed. I thought he was joking," said Ashtiani. "Later, I found out that killing was his profession.
"He came (to our house) and brought all the stuff. He brought electrical devices, plus wire and gloves. Later, he killed my husband by connecting him to the electricity," she said.
The head of the judiciary of Iran's East Azerbaijan province told the television show that Ashtiani had injected an anesthetic into her husband. "After the husband went unconscious, the real murderer killed the victim by connecting electricity to his neck," he said.
It was not clear whether the cousin had been arrested.
'Children completely traumatized'
Ashtiani, a mother of two, has already received 99 lashes for having an illicit relationship with two men. The stoning sentence has been suspended pending a judicial review but could still be carried out, an Iranian judiciary official has said.
Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, enforced since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Her lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, told Reuters in an interview earlier this week that Ashtiani, who was convicted of "adultery while being married", would likely be spared stoning thanks to international pressure.
Iranian authorities have issued a warrant for Mostafaei's arrest and held his wife in jail for two weeks in an attempt to get him to return to Iran, he said.
In the TV interview, Ashtiani said she would lodge a complaint against Mostafaei, who is now in Norway.
"Why did you publicize my case? Why did you harm my reputation and dignity? Not all of my relatives and family members knew that I am prison. Why did you do this to me?"
The show's host said Western media had given the case so much publicity in the hope of pressuring Iran to release three Americans who have been in prison for more than a year after being arrested near the Iraqi border where, their families say, they were hiking.
Attorney Mostafaei, who is currently in Norway after fleeing Iran, told CNN that the show his client appeared on is supervised by the ayatollah regime's intelligence services. "Many of the show's reports are false," he said, adding that Ashtiani is doing what she is told "to save her life."
"The main issue here is that she was sentenced to death for adultery," the lawyer said. "The international community demanded that she not be killed because of this. The Iranian television broadcast did not address this issue."
Attorney Houtan Kian, who is also representing Ashtiani, said his client was tortured and "forced" to make the comments on TV.
"She was severely beaten up and tortured until she accepted to appear in front of camera. Her 22-year-old son, Sajad and her 17-year-old daughter Saeedeh are completely traumatized by watching this program," he told the Guardian.
According to human rights group Amnesty International, Iran is second only to China in the number of people it executes. It put to death at least 346 people in 2008.
MOTHER ARRESTED OVER MURDER OF 2 YR OLD SON AFTER ENTERING COP STATION
A mother who walked into a police station carrying the lifeless body of her son was today arrested on suspicion of murder.
The woman walked into the reception area of the Peterlee Police Station in County Durham just after 7.30am, with the boy in her arms.
Officers called for an ambulance and the boy was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The woman, 39, was arrested at the scene due to injuries found on his body.
The woman, from the Castle Eden area, was believed to have driven a Skoda Octavia to the scene, parking it outside the magistrates' courts which adjoin the police station.
The vehicle has been taken away for forensic analysis.
A County Durham Police spokesman said: 'The child was not responsive and an ambulance was immediately called for.
map
'He was then rushed to Sunderland Royal Hospital where, despite the efforts of doctors, he was confirmed dead shortly after arrival.
'Due to injuries on the child's body, the 39-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of the boy's murder, and she is now in custody at Peterlee police station.'
A post-mortem is due to take place to establish the cause of death.
Durham Police said the child would not be named at this stage.
The spokesman said: 'A team of officers, led by Detective Superintendent Adrian Green, is working on the case and an incident room has been set up at the police station.'
Officers cordoned off the front of the police station with tape and placed yellow cones outside the front door.
A North East Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: 'We arrived on the scene within four minutes.
'The child was unresponsive at the time.'
The ambulance took the child to the Sunderland hospital's accident and emergency unit.
WOMEN'S AID AS EVER ARE NEVER AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT WHEN IT'S A MURDERING MOTHER
A French woman who admitted suffocating eight of her newborns and hiding their corpses in the garden and garage of her home has been charged with manslaughter, a prosecutor said.
Dominique Cottrez, a 46-year-old nurse's aide, said that after a bad experience with her first pregnancy she never again wanted to see a doctor. She admitted delivering the babies herself and placing the corpses in plastic bags.
She buried two of the newborns in the garden and hid the rest of them in the garage, prosecutor Eric Vaillant said.
"She explained that she didn't want any more children and that she didn't want to see a doctor to take contraceptives," Vaillant told a press conference. "She was perfectly conscious of the fact that she was pregnant each time."
Cottrez and her husband, Pierre-Marie Cottrez, were detained on Wednesday after two corpses were discovered by the new owners in plastic bags in the garden of a house that had belonged to the woman's father in the town of Villers-au-Tertre in northern France.
Under questioning, the woman admitted that there were six other corpses and told investigators that they were in plastic bags in the garage of her previous home.
The woman is still in detention and will undergo further psychiatric testing, Vaillant said. Her husband was freed from custody and not charged.
He claimed that he knew nothing about the pregnancies of his wife, who is very large and apparently easily concealed her condition. Earlier, Vaillant said in a statement that the husband could be charged with failure to report a crime and concealment of corpses.
The couple's two grown daughters, who are in their 20s, have been questioned, Vaillant said.
Police sealed the doors, gate and windows of the house where the remains of some of the babies were discovered. DNA tests are being conducted to confirm whether the couple are the parents, while autopsies are being conducted on the corpses to try to determine the cause of death.
THE TRUTH ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE JUST ISN'Y SEXY ENOUGH
by Barbara Kay
Sociologist Joel Best once said, “A bad statistic is harder to kill than a vampire.” And no field is more rife with bad statistics than domestic violence.
It would seem that the best time to launch a bad statistic about domestic violence is during massively attended sporting events. A gullible public seems to think that high levels of testosterone on a playing field plus alcohol just naturally translates into an astronomical escalation of male fans beating up on their wives and girlfriends.
In the latest example of myth-making on the connection between sports and domestic violence, England’s Association of Chief Police Officers stated in May that during the World Cup “cases of domestic abuse increase by nearly 30% on England match days.” The figure came from a study sponsored by the British Home Office, so it seemed credible. The shocking figure sparked a big publicity campaign, with a lurid poster featuring a cowering woman covered in bruises and the imprint of a man’s shoe.
But on their weekly show, Law in Action, two BBC legal commentators concluded that the “World Cup Abuse Nightmare” was “a stunt based on misleading figures.” The thirty percent claim came from cherrypicked data and was riddled with flaws, essentially ignoring match days when there was little or no uptick in abuse. An actually trustworthy study done by the London Metropolitan Police Authority contradicted the thirty percent “finding,” but by then the media had a story that was too good to check for veracity.
We’ve been scammed before on this subject. Anyone remember the big 1993 Super Bowl Sunday hoax? The media all jumped on a bad statistic and ran with it then too. It was “reported” that domestic violence increased by 40% during the Super Bowl. Journalists called it the “abuse bowl” and NBC ran a public service announcement telling men to stay calm during the game or they would end up in jail.
In the same year the National Coalition against Domestic Violence circulated a brochure in which they claimed that half of American women would face violence from their mate and that “more than a third are battered repeatedly every year.” This is simply an outrageous lie – fewer than one percent of the female population can be said to be “battered” – but such was the hysteria around the subject of domestic violence at the time, that people were ready to believe all men were basically monsters.
Only one reporter, Ken Ringle of the Washington Post, actually ran down the stat to its source, which was an offhand comment by a feminist activist at a press conference. It was made up out of whole cloth. There was no actual increase of domestic violence during the game. And for the past 17 years since that Super Bowl, no one has found a domestic violence link to it.
According to an article in National Review Online by Christina Hoff Summers, author of Who Stole Feminism? and editor of The Science on Women and Science, a major 2007 study examined 2,387 crisis-call records over a three-year period and interviewed abused women and staff in womens’ shelters. Their conclusion: “The widely held belief that more women seek shelter during ‘drinking holidays’ such as New Year’s and the Super Bowl was unsubstantiated.”
Why do these myths persist? Because they make great copy and because there is something mesmerizing about a statistic that freezes journalistic brains, especially when the statistics bolster common cultural biases or trends. And one especially pejorative but persisting cultural trend is the impunity with which all men can be demonized. The moral of these hoaxes is to view statistics that paint a negative picture of unusually high numbers of men with deep suspicion.
CANADIAN MOTHER WHO STRANGLED DAUGHTER WONT BE JAILED SAYS JUDGE
Left murdered daughter Aminat Magomadova. Another masonic JUDGE making decisions
that will suit the radical feminist men haters.
A judge's decision to free a Canadian mother convicted of strangling her 14-year-old daughter with a head scarf has prompted growing outrage from victims' advocates groups.
A suspended sentence was given to Aset Magomadova, 40, by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sal LoVecchio on Thursday, stunning a national victims' group based in Toronto, the Vancouver Sun reports.
"I really strongly disagree," said Joe Wamback, founder and chairman of the Canadian Crime Victims Foundation. "It sends a message to the rest of the community and the world that her daughter's life was valueless."
Wamback continued, "Even though this girl may have been a handful and trouble, that's not the issue. The issue is human life."
Magomadova was acquitted by LoVecchio in October of second-degree murder and found her guilty of manslaughter in the death of 14-year-old Aminat. The judge placed her on probation for three years with several conditions, including taking counseling for grief, depression and anger management, the Vancouver Sun reports.
Magomadova was charged after the incident at their home on Feb. 26, 2007, when Aminat refused
to go to court to be sentenced for assaulting a female teaching at school.
Magomadova, who is Muslim claimed her daughter lunged at her with a knife in her sewing room, where she prayed several times daily, the newspaper reports. Magomadova said she reacted by wrapping the scarf around her daughter's neck and told the girl twice to put the knife before she lost consciousness.
A knife was later found in the room, but the girl's fingerprints were not found on the weapon. LoVecchio, who rejected a claim of self-defense, ruled that Magomadova did not intend to kill her daughter, despite a finding by a medical examiner that death as a result of such an act would have taken at least 180 seconds.
Another evil woman let off by men hating British judges who use radical feminism to
hammer men in any other circumstances
A MOTHER who claimed she had been attacked and raped to escape prosecution for drink-driving walked free yesterday.
Sarah Hunter sighed with relief as she was given a 12-week suspended jail sentence for wasting police time.
But as she stood emotionless in the dock, a magistrate condemned her for making it harder for real rape victims to come to forward.
Hunter, 30, told police she had been the victim of a horrific double rape after crashing her boyfriend’s Vauxhall Astra.
She hit two parked cars and a set of wheelie bins so hard that one of the vehicles was catapulted onto its roof. Feigning hysterics, she then banged on a nearby front door and police were called.
She claimed two men had kidnapped her before the smash and dragged her down an alleyway where they both raped her.
Specially-trained officers spent hours interviewing her and forensic teams carried out a fingertip search of the area.
But guilt proved too much for Hunter and she rang detectives the following day and admitted her story was all lies.
Yesterday, the mother-of-two appeared at Coventry Magistrates Court for sentence after admitting wasting police time earlier. The court heard Hunter, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, had been drinking when she drove off in her boyfriend’s car at around 3am on April 28 this year.
She crashed a short time later in Canely, Coventry, causing £5,000 damage.
Chairman of the bench Alan Johnson said: “The police have more than enough to do dealing with real incidents of this nature than to waste time with somebody like yourself.
“Actions like yours affect public confidence in people who have suffered a real incident that you have claimed to have experienced.”
Charlotte Pike, prosecuting, told the court: “This is a serious allegation with a large amount of man hours and specialist officers involved. The consequences could have been much worse.”
But Stefan Hunkha, defending, said: “This was a kind of attention seeking or cry for help to bring her to the attention of people so she could speak in a rather strange and bizarre fashion about her problems.”
Later, Hunter refused to comment.
LYING MOTHER JAILED AFTER MAKING UP NIGHTCLUB RAPE CLAIM
THE EVILS OF RADICAL FEMINISM AND HOW THEY PROTECT WOMEN WHO LIE AND DESTROY DECENT MEN'S LIVES
A lying mother-of-one who claimed she had been raped because she wanted to get rid of her husband has been jailed for 18 months.
Bernadett Kore, 29, told police she had been brutally attacked by two thugs in an alleyway in October.
But it transpired that the woman made the whole story up - leaving the two men she accused devastated by their terrifying ordeal.
Kore gave police a description of two men she had seen in a nightclub that night and they were arrested after police examined the club's CCTV footage.
Nick Methold, prosecuting, said she spun 'a long and detailed story with gory and intimate details' of her 'rape' nightmare.
Mr Methold told Norwich Crown Court: 'Police had devoted considerable resources to it, sealing off the area and putting extra officers onto the case, at a cost of £15,000.'
He said the two men were not told they were off the hook until Kore admitted lying in February.
One of her shattered victims lost three stone with worry as the court case hung over his head.
The college tutor of one of the men said 'he went from being a bright young man, open and vivacious, to being withdrawn, tired and lacking in motivation'.
He said: 'All that can be attributed directly to the actions of this defendant in making up this wicked story.'
Kore, of Wymondham, near Norwich, admitted perverting the course of justice.
The mother-of-one was told she would have to serve half her sentence.
Judge Alasdair Darroch told Kore: 'You have caused very serious damage to two innocent young men.
'I accept you did not name any individuals and it might have been that no one was arrested but when people were arrested, you could have corrected the record.'
Jonathan Morgans, defending, said: "She went home drunk to her husband and came up with the story really to get rid of him.
'It snowballed from there. She couldn't have realised the extent to which it would grow and grow.
'She couldn't regret it more.
'She simply wishes to apologise for what she has done.'
'CRY RAPE' CASES
Sarah Hunter lied to police that she was dragged from her boyfriend's car and raped in an alley by two men to escape a driving ban.
After wasting 15 hours of police time, Hunter finally admitted she had made up the allegation. She will be sentenced at the end of the month.
Rosanne England was jailed for 18 months in January after she told police she had been attacked by a stranger who knocked on her door.
The 21-year-old tore her underwear and scratched her own face before falsely accusing an innocent man who was detained for 28 hours before being released on bail.
After 24 days England finally admitted the allegation was untrue.
NEW ZEALAND WOMAN GUILTY OF STABBING BOYFRIEND TO DEATH
A High Court jury in Napier today took just 90 minutes to find Napier woman Jacqueline Elaine Wihongi guilty of murdering her boyfriend just over 12 months ago.
Wihongi, 33, had denied stabbing to death Vivian Sinclair Hirini, 38, outside her home in Tyrone Place in the suburb of Tamatea, early on the night of June 5 last year.
The jury of nine women and three men retired at 11am after an hour-long summary by Justice John Wild and returned a unanimous verdict at 12.40pm.
Wihongi stabbed Mr Hirini before he drove off in her recently-purchased vehicle.
His knife wounds were noticed by emergency service staff only after he crashed soon afterwards.
At the start of the trial on Monday, Wihongi pleaded not guilty, although it was conceded she had stabbed Mr Hirini once.
She did not give evidence and no other witnesses were called by defence counsel Russell Fairbrother and Leo Lafferty.
In closing addresses, Mr Fairbrother argued the Crown had not proven Wihongi inflicted the fatal wound, or if she had it had not proven the crucial issue of intent.
MASONIC COPS HAVE FOR FAR TO LONG TURNED A BLIND EYE TO WOMEN MISTREATING THEIR CHILDREN WHILE
FATHERS ARE ABSOLUTELY ABUSED BY THUG COPS WITH A HIDDEN AGENDA. MASONIC JUDGES AND LAWYERS WITH
THE HELP OF BRITAIN'S MASONIC COPS ARE TO BUSY THIEVING OFF MEN WHILE
WOMEN AND THEIR RICH LAWYERS HAVE BEEN GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER MAKING TOTALLY UNFOUNDED
ALLEGATIONS ABOUT MEN WHILE WOMEN ARE GETTING AWAY WITH ABUSE OF THEIR CHILDREN TO THE EXTREME.
IN THIS MURDER OF TWO CHILDREN, THE FATHER RAISED THE MATTER SEVERAL TIMES WITH COPS, WHO AS
THEY DO OFTEN IGNORE THE FATHER , ULTIMATELY LEADING TO THE DEATHS OF TWO MORE CHILDREN DUE
TO THE UTTER NEGLECT AND PREJUDICE OF BRITISH COPS AGAINST FATHERS UNLESS THEY HAPPEN
TO BE PART OF THEIR CREEPY MASONIC NETWORK, THEN THE MOTHER GETS SIMILAR TREATMENT.
A woman has appeared at the Old Bailey accused of killing her two children whose bodies were found in the boot of a car.
Fiona Donnison, 43, a former City worker, of Marshwood Road, Lightwater, Surrey, was charged with two murders.
She was remanded in custody for a plea and case management hearing at the same court on October 7.
A trial is expected to take place early next year at Lewes Crown Court.
Three-year-old Harry and two-year-old Elise Donnison were found in separate holdalls in the boot of a Nissan car near the former family home in Heathfield, East Sussex, in January.
The brother and sister appeared to have been asphyxiated and had been dead for less than 24 hours.
Sussex Police referred part of their inquiry into the deaths to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) after claims that the children's father, Paul Donnison, who was estranged from Donnison, expressed concern to police about their safety.
After their deaths Mr Donnison issued a statement describing Harry and Elise as "the lights that shone the brightest in my life".
NEW ZEALAND GRANDMOTHER JAILED FOR MURDER OF 3 YR OLD GRANDDAUGHTER
A grandmother has been sent to jail for five years and nine months for the manslaughter of her three-year-old granddaughter.
Joanne Tahuri, 57, of Marton, was sentenced in the High Court at Whanganui this morning, after admitting she caused the severe head injuries that killed her granddaughter Cherishsiliala Tahuri-Wright, known as Cherish, on February 17 last year.
The Porirua toddler died in the Wellington Hospital neurological unit two days later.
Tahuri had been charged with the murder of Cherish but pleaded guilty to the amended charge mid-way through her trial in the High Court last month.
In his sentencing, Justice Warwick Gendall said Tahuri struck Cherish in the head as punishment for "acting out" but it sent the three-year-old into a coma.
Tahuri panicked; shaking the child and attempting to revive her in the shower before going to a neighbour's house to phone her partner, Alan Hunia, for advice.
It was not until the neighbour returned to with Tahuri to her house and saw Cherish that emergency services were called.
When Cherish did finally receive surgery, she was found to be suffering from a subdural hematoma, or bleeding, inside her skull and behind her retina, Justice Gendall said.
Crown Prosecutor Lance Rowe said the sentence should be no more than six years.
Tahuri's failure to assist paramedics on the day and her subsequent attempts to conceal what happened by blaming the assault on Cherish's three-year-old cousin, were serious agrivating factors, he said.
Defence lawyer Peter Brosnahan said the sentence should be closer to four or five years because Tahuri was remorseful and it was not until a pathologist had given about the blow that she realised how strong she had hit Cherish.
Justice Gendall said Tahuri was psychologically unfit to be looking after Cherish and her three-year-old cousin.
Tahuri had a history of violence against the children, and he was required to hand down a sentence which would serve as a deterrence to child abuse, he said.
FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE SHOULD BE PUNISHABLE EVEN IN CIVIL COURTS
People are being abused when accused of false allegations often after separating from
their partners. As there is virtually no penalty for perjury in Scottish civil courts
the system is open to abuse and a person can be falsely accused with impunity.
Scottish unmarried fathers who have signed their childs birth certificate prior to
a change in the legislation on 4th may 2006 are particularly vulnerable. Unlike
unmarried fathers who signed their childs birth certificate on or after this date
they and their children are discriminated against in that they do not have automatic
Parental Rights and Responsibilities (PRRs)towards their children.
They are treated differently also to married fathers,to divorced fathers and to
all mothers. There are just under 200,000 births jointly registered by unmarried
parents in the 10 year period prior to the change in family law and it is well
documented that these parents were on the whole ignorant of their parental rights
status and assumed equality. You cannot be a parent without PRRs and these
marginalised fathers can only obtain them with the agreement of their childs
mother. If she is not willing he has to go to court. With the courts being
under resourced the most vulnerable in society ‘children’ often suffer the
consequences of being alienated from their dads for long periods of time.
This is exacerbated by false allegations and to the fact that family matters
involving children are not prioritised. Going to court to try to achieve access
to your child and PRRs under these circumstances is extremely harrowing
lengthy and costly. It is not surprising that many fathers give up in despair
either from stress or lack of funds to the detriment of their children.
False allegations should be punishable even in civil courts as they not only
hurt children and corrupt statistics they put further strain on the already
burdened legal system to the detriment of those who are in genuine need.
Four Sacramento County Sheriff's cars pulled up in front of David Woods's house. He tried to explain to them what happened. But the lead deputy cut him off: "Yeah, that's fine. Put your hands behind your back."
David said, "No, wait, she stabbed me ... there's the knife. See the knife? See my neck wound? See?"
"Put your hands behind your back. Turn around," the deputy replied.
"No," David protested. "She stabbed..."
The deputies drew their weapons. David's little daughters came running out of the back bedroom pleading, "Leave Daddy alone! Mamma tried to hurt him with a knife!"
One deputy, a woman, took the children in the bedroom and shut the door. David stood there, cuffed.
How the fight began
David's wife Ruth had taken the kids out for a walk in 39 degree weather -- for seven hours.
"By the time she got back their fingers were blue, their lips were blue, their ears were blue," David says. The children were soaked; she was soaked. We argued for an hour. "We had to put them in a warm bath to warm them up; they were hypothermic.
Then she started cutting up vegetables for dinner. She had a serrated vegetable knife with a blade about seven inches long. She turned around and she stabbed at me.
"I tried to block it, but I was surprised. I was off balance...the knife went right through my collar and gave me a little nick on my neck.
"She reared back to stab me again. I tried to block it again...I hit her in the mouth. She dropped the knife, ran to the telephone, called 911, and told them, 'My husband is hitting me! I think he's gonna kill me.'
"When she dropped the knife, I stood over it. I wouldn't let her hide the knife. I was going to say to the police, 'See? She tried to stab me.'"
The truth came from the kids
After 15 minutes, the female deputy returned from the bedroom after talking to David's children. She told the other deputies, "It's true. Both of the daughters saw it. She tried to stab him with the knife."
They took the cuffs off David. "Your wife obviously needs help," the lead deputy said. "She works for Kaiser, you've got health insurance that covers mental health, you need to call the emergency number and get her an appointment."
David says there's a double standard when it comes to charging men. "Now, isn't that strange? When she had a fat lip, it was a felony and I was going to jail. But when they finally realized that she tried to stab me in the neck, it stopped being a crime, and instead it was a mental health issue."
The history of their case
David Woods is a partially disabled former Marine who endured years of abuse at the hands of his wife Ruth and the law enforcement and domestic violence system which unwittingly enabled her.
Woods, a former construction worker, suffered disabling work-related injuries early in his marriage. He says:
"The violence really began in our family about 10 days after Ruth realized that she had all the power [financially]. I knew I had to get my kids out. I called the largest domestic violence shelter agency in Sacramento County several times. They told me, 'Men are perpetrators of domestic violence; women are victims of domestic violence,' and hung up.
"I had no way out. I had no money. Whenever we bought a car, Ruth insisted that the car be in her name only, so that if I took it and went to the movies without her approval she would call the police, and report, 'I'm estranged from my husband, and he stole my car.' She did that several times."
Worst of all is what David's children endured. One daughter says, "No one would help. Teachers, parents of friends, anyone I tried to talk to about what was going on at home told me I didn't understand, that my mother couldn't possibly be the violent party. When the police came to our home, they would always be ready to arrest my father, sometimes putting handcuffs on him. It was up to me to scream as loud as possible that it was my mom and not my dad, so they wouldn't take him away and leave me alone with her."
Domestic violence committed by women against men is generally ignored or minimized, yet more than 200 studies have found that women initiate at least as much domestic violence (DV) against their male partners as males initiate against their female partners. Research shows that men comprise about a third of DV injuries and deaths. Women often compensate for their lack of physical strength by employing weapons and the element of surprise -- just as David Woods' wife did, and just as recently murdered former NFL star Steve McNair's girlfriend allegedly did.
But in 2008, David Woods was partially vindicated. He was the principal plaintiff in a successful lawsuit against the State of California. The Third District Court of Appeals ruled that it violates equal protection that California's funding of domestic violence programs that offer services only to women but not to men.
Recent research on domestic violence
The most recent large-scale study of DV was conducted by Center for Disease Control and Prevention researchers and published in the American Journal of Public Health. The study, which surveyed 11,000 men and women, found that according to both men's and women's accounts, 50 percent of the violence in their relationships was reciprocal (involving both parties). In those cases, the women were more likely to have been the first to strike. Moreover, when the violence was one-sided, both women and men said that women were the perpetrators about 70 percent of the time.
The Obama administration recently appointed Lynn Rosenthal as the first-ever White House Advisor on Violence Against Women. Vice President Biden, who wrote the Violence Against Women Act, said that creating the post will help the White House focus on stopping domestic violence.
Many of the world's leading authorities on domestic violence recently gathered at the "From Ideology to Inclusion 2009" conference in Los Angeles and detailed new research contradicting this view and offering solutions that will benefit all. Researchers emphasized their findings that ignoring female-perpetrated DV puts children, men, and also women in harm's way. The conference was presented by the California Alliance for Families & Children and co-sponsored by the Family Violence Treatment & Education Association.
DV researcher Deborah Capaldi, Ph.D., a social scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center, told the conference that the most dangerous DV scenario for women is that of reciprocal violence, particularly if that violence is initiated by women. The best way for many women to be safe is to not initiate violence against their male partners. "The question of initiation of violence is a crucial one ... much DV is [reciprocated], and initiations -- even that seem minor -- may lead to escalation," she explained.
Dr. Capaldi's research shows that whereas men are often thought of as the only abusers and also as serial abusers, a young woman's DV is just as predictive of her male partner's future DV as the man's own past DV.
While Rosenthal and numerous others have created many programs and services to help abused women, there are very few services available to abused men. Those who seek help often face hostility or indifference from domestic violence hotlines, service providers, and law enforcement.
Denise Hines, Ph.D., of Clark University in Worcester, Mass., has studied why many abused men hesitate to leave their female partners. Hines told the conference that while some of the men's reasons for not leaving were similar to those of abused women (love, not believing in divorce, hoping the partner will change, etc.), the men's overwhelming concern was for their children.
Men often don't want to leave their wives because this would leave their children unprotected in the hands of an abuser. If the men choose to take their children away from the home, when they're found, the children are likely to be taken away and given to the mother, and the men might be arrested for abducting their children. Moreover, they would possibly lose custody of their children in the divorce anyway, again leaving their children in harm's way.
In Hines's study of male victims of domestic violence, 64 percent of the men who called a DV hotline were told that they "only helped women," and over half were referred to programs for male perpetrators. Overall, only 8 percent of the men who called hotlines classified them as "very helpful," whereas 69 percent found them to be "not at all helpful." Worse, when an abused man called the police, the police were more likely to arrest him than to arrest his abusive female partner.
Children end up victimized
In any kind of spousal violence, children often end up being victimized. In the highly publicized Socorro Caro murder case, Socorro often abused her husband Xavier, a prominent Northridge, California rheumatologist, and once assaulted him so badly he had to have surgery to regain his sight in one eye. Trapped and not knowing what to do or where to go, Xavier endured the abuse, once telling his wife, according to reports, that "One day you are going to do something that cannot be undone." A short time later, Socorro shot and killed three of their four children. Their baby survived only because Socorro ran out of bullets. She was later convicted and sentenced to death for the murders.
According to John Hamel, LCSW, a court-certified batterers' treatment provider, even when the children themselves are not abused, "There is an overwhelming, irrefutable body of research indicating that children are adversely affected by witnessing inter-parental violence, regardless of the perpetrator's gender."
David's daughter gives her example:
"I grew up paranoid and feeling like the safety in my house was something only I was responsible for. If Mom became violent, it meant I failed. I learned the only way to survive was to watch every argument they had and be ready to interject myself as a distraction before violence happened.... My next task was to try to break it up: the screaming, threatening, pleading, whatever. I had to make sure no details escaped me, because if the cops got called they'd just believe my mom without question. It was my job to make sure the truth got heard."
FEMALE CYBER BULLY JAILED FOR POSTING EVIL DEATH THREATS ON FACEBOOK
VILE Keeley Houghton was yesterday jailed for internet bullying following a string of website taunts against a teenager - which included a threat to "murder the bitch".
She became the first person in Britain to be caged over such attacks after a merciless campaign against victim Emily Moore.
Houghton - now 18 - wrote in her home page profile on the social networking website Facebook: "Keeley is going to murder the bitch. She is an actress. What a f***ing liberty. Emily F***head Moore."
She was lambasted for her cruelty by District Judge Bruce Morgan, who told her: "Since Emily Moore was 14 you have waged compelling threats and violent abuse towards her.
Friends not surprised twins charged in mom's death
Just days after Jarmecca "Nikki" Whitehead was killed, many of her friends had already fingered a suspect, or suspects.
Their suspicions were confirmed Friday when the Conyers beautician's twin daughters, Tasmiyah and Jasmiyah, were arrested and charged with murder in their mother's Jan. 14 death. Whitehead was found in a pool of blood, beaten and stabbed repeatedly. The twins will be tried as adults.
"I never thought they were capable of murder before she died," said Whitehead's friend and former boss, Michelle Temple. "Who would think that? But after she was murdered, I knew it was them."
By all accounts, the 16-year-old girls had become difficult for their mother to handle. Once honor students and Girl Scouts, "Tas" and "Jas," as they were known, continually pushed boundaries, breaking rules and acting out whenever discipline was imposed.
"The girls wanted to do what they wanted to do," said Yucca Harris, Whitehead's best friend.
Tas and Jas had moved back home just eight days before their mother's death. They had been living with their elderly great-grandmother for about a year and a half following an incident in which they physically assaulted Whitehead, requiring police intervention, said Petrina Sims, owner of Simply Unique, a salon where Whitehead worked until her death.
Their great-grandmother had trouble reining the girls in, Whitehead's friends say.
"She's an 80-year-old woman," Harris said of Whitehead's grandmother. "[Tas and Jas] could get away with just about anything."
Temple told the AJC that the girls stole $200 from her and they'd also stolen money from their great-grandmother.
"The [great-grandmother] eventually had to get a dead-bolt for her bedroom," Temple said.
But friends say Whitehead, who raised the girls alone, was determined to start over with her daughters.
"The last night I saw her, she told me she was going to fight for those girls," said Harris, who was invited to a welcome home dinner Whitehead had for Tas and Jas five days before her death.
"They agreed to start over, to forgive and forget," Harris told the AJC. Harris said she had a long conversation with her friend's daughters that night, encouraging them to call her whenever they needed to talk.
"I thought I got through to them," Harris said.
Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson said evidence processed in the GBI crime lab links the girls to their mother's slaying. E ven Jasmiyah's attorney, Rockdale public defender Owen Humphries, acknowledged, "I've got my work cut out for me."
Both girls have denied killing their mother, Humphries said. A grand jury is expected to hear their case June 7.
The twins had claimed they came home from school and discovered their mother's body. One of them flagged down a Rockdale County Sheriff's deputy who was in the neighborhood serving a warrant on an unrelated matter.
With no sign of forced entry, police suspected Whitehead knew her killer.
"There was a point soon after the murder when a lot of people became suspicious of the two girls," Chief Wilson told the AJC.
The girls have been separated "to keep them from comparing notes," Humphries said. One is in the Rockdale Youth Detention Center while the other was sent to Gwinnett's YDC. They're being held without bond.
Humphries told the AJC he's working to secure legal representation for Tasmiyah.
"They were just defiant," salon owner Sims said of the twins. "They had grown so wild in just a couple of years, like they were two different people. They weren't those sweet little girls anymore."
HORROR AS WOMAN STAMPS ON HER BABY AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF STEALING MOBILE
Radical feminists and Women's Aid do everything they can to protect women like this
This was the shocking moment a woman accused of stealing a mobile phone in China threw her baby on the ground and stamped on it.
The hideous incident came after a high school student had challenged the woman and a female friend, both holding babies, after being told by witnesses that they had stolen her phone.
The suspected thief throws the baby to the ground and starts to stamp on it in Zhengzhou, China
The baby lies on the ground screaming after the incident. Miraculously, the infant was not injured
The confrontation turned physical and the police were called in Zhengzhou, Henan province.
Officers arrived along with some of the student's relatives. One of these family members pushed one of the suspected thieves who, shockingly, responded by throwing her baby on to the road and stamping on it while shouting in protest.
For a few horrifying the moments the tiny child was left crying in the middle of the road as the woman was pulled away.
The two women suspects were eventually taken to the local police station.
Miraculously, the baby escaped uninjured.
MODEL JAILED FOR 20 YEARS AFTER MURDERING HER BOYFRIEND
AN ASPIRING model who murdered her boyfriend by shooting him in the head outside the home they shared has been jailed for 20 years.
Caroline Igoe, 32, was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered at the High Court in Glasgow to serve at least 20 years behind bars for killing boyfriend Martyn Barclay.
Mr Barclay, 26, was found dead outside the pair's home in the Inch area of Edinburgh on January 17 last year.
Her brother Paul Igoe, 37, who was cleared of murder but found guilty along with his sister of possessing the handgun and attempting to cover their tracks, was jailed for six years.
Sentencing Miss Igoe, Lord Bracadale said: "Martyn Barclay was your boyfriend.
"Very unfortunately he kept a handgun but that doesn't mean he deserved to be shot with it, and that's what the jury found that you did in the public street in the morning outside the house where you and he and other members of your family lived."
Caroline Igoe had known her victim for about six years, forming a relationship with him three months before his murder and he moved into her family home at Hazelwood Grove in Edinburgh.
Mr Barclay died of his injuries in hospital after the shooting.
The handgun used in the incident was found two months later on March 13 by dog walkers in woods near Craigmillar Castle.
Detective Superintendent Lesley Boal, who led the murder investigation, said the pair had "continually frustrated" the investigation.
"Caroline Igoe needlessly took Martyn's life," she said.
"At no point during the investigation did Caroline or Paul Igoe show any remorse for their actions or acknowledge the devastation felt by Martyn's family and loved ones.
"Martyn's death also shocked those in the wider community, particularly those living and working in the Inch area of Edinburgh.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the public who responded so well to our appeals for witnesses and information and for the invaluable support from the community partnerships in the Inch area."
As well as the murder sentence, she was also jailed for six years and two years for the two charges relating to possessing the handgun, and six for attempting to defeat the ends of justice by covering her tracks. All will run concurrently.
Her brother was jailed for six years and two years on the two gun charges and six for attempting to defeat the ends of justice, all to run concurrently.
They had denied the charges but were found guilty by a jury last month following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Sentencing Mr Igoe, Lord Bracadale said: "To have possession of a handgun is in itself a serious offence and carries a minimum sentence.
"By removing the murder weapon you set back the police investigation."
Suspicions about who was responsible were raised at an early stage after a 999 call made to police from the Hazelwood Grove house - shortly after they were first alerted - was quickly disconnected.
In a second call from the same address, the caller spoke of a man being shot in the head but later suggested he had simply fallen.
During the trial, Caroline denied killing her boyfriend before mourning with his family.
The 32-year-old had said she was devastated when he was shot outside her home and said he told her there was a bounty on his head.
However, a detective told the trial he did not believe the shooting fitted the pattern of a gangland hit.
Martyn's blood was also found on Caroline's pyjamas, with the stains suggesting she was close to the shooting.
Relatives and friends from both the Igoe and Barclay families were in court for the sentencing, with a strong police presence in the courtroom.
In a statement issued after the sentencing, the family of Mr Barclay said: "We have had a long and harrowing wait to get justice for Martyn, and while no sentence will ever bring him back, we are satisfied now we know his killer is behind bars.
"All of us are devastated by his loss and that will stay with us for the rest of our lives, particularly as we watch Michael grow up without his dad.
"We would wish to record our thanks to all involved in the investigation, particularly Mr Alex Prentice QC.
"Martyn was loved by us all and he will forever remain in our thoughts."
Speaking outside court after the verdict, Caroline Igoe's parents, Joseph and Margaret Igoe, said they were convinced their daughter was innocent.
Mrs Igoe said: "I'm absolutely positive she did not shoot Martyn. I was in the house, she was in the house, she was never outside with Martyn."
Her husband said: "We're 1000% sure she never killed Martyn."
Caroline Igoe's defence agent, James Keegan QC, said his client, a trained hairdresser, maintained she was innocent.
He said: "She has never accepted any responsibility for the death of the deceased Martyn Barclay, who was her boyfriend, that's her steadfast position."
Gordon Jackson QC, defending Paul Igoe, said his client's contact with the gun had been "fleeting" and "spur of the moment".
He said: "He was not aware of what had happened and simply was thinking that this was a gun he didn't want anyone to find and in a foolish action he took it away and then could not get rid of it fast enough.
"This is not a man who has been in any sense a serious criminal. He has been a pest at times but has never been a serious criminal."
The court earlier heard that Paul Igoe was previously given community service and has convictions for assault, robbery and breach of the peace.
His sister has previous convictions for dishonesty and malicious damage and was on bail at the time of the murder.
TWINS SNATCHED BY ALCOHOLIC MOTHER FOUND SAFE AND WELL
Billy Blu and Vixen Rae Francis, the twins apparently snatched by their mother from under the noses of social workers, have been found safe and well.
The four-year-olds, who are believed to have taken by their mother, Tamara Dyson, from a care centre in Skegness on Thursday, were recovered after a ''police operation''.
Lincolnshire Police said that the children had been taken into police protection while a man and a woman have been arrested.
Officers issued an international alert earlier this week after the pair went missing during a supervised visit from their grandparents last Thursday.
There were apparently two social workers present but Miss Dyson, an alcoholic, apparently managed to sneak in and seize them after the staff became distracted while making a cup of coffee.
They raised concerns for the children's safety, disclosing that Miss Dyson was “dangerous” alcoholic.
It also emerged that Miss Dyson had snatched the twins three days earlier, but had been tracked down immediately.
The children's father, William Francis, a 31-year-old electrician from Greenwich, south-east London, said he was "livid" about social services' handling of the case.
Mr Francis, a 31-year-old electrician, split from Miss Dyson two years ago after an eight-year relationship. Miss Dyson ran a bed and breakfast hotel in Skegness which has recently been sold.
The children, who live in foster care, went missing during a visit at Roseberry House, a family centre in Skegness, Lincs, last Thursday afternoon.
STUDENT CLEARED OF RAPE AFTER ANOTHER COMMITS SUICIDE ON SAME FALSE CLAIMS
THE FULL EVILS OF RADICAL FEMINIST GOVERNMENT POLICY AND THE EFFECT ON THE MEN CAUGHT UP
IN LIES AND DECEIT OF EVIL WOMEN
Jurors in tears as they clear student of rape - then discover another man falsely accused by same 'victim' had killed himself
A woman drove a man to suicide by crying rape and forced a second innocent man to consider taking his life after falsely accusing him of a similar sex attack.
Despite being exposed in court as a serial liar, legal restrictions mean the 21-year-old woman can never be identified.
A jury took only 45 minutes to clear medical student Olumide Fadayomi, 27, of rape.
But several jurors at Sheffield Crown Court broke down in tears when the judge revealed the 'victim' had a history of crying rape.
Judge Patrick Robertshaw launched a stinging attack on the Crown Prosecution Service for making Mr Fadayomi stand trial.
He said: 'The evidence did not, and was never going to, prove rape. The prime overriding consideration in the CPS's decision had been merely that the complainant
wished the case to go ahead.
'It was little short of a craven abdication of responsibility for making an independent and fair-minded assessment of the case.
'It is quite astonishing these decisions are made by those who simply do not have experience of what happens in Crown Court because they never come into Crown Court.
'They sit behind desks and make decisions that result in this sort of trial taking place.'
The judge revealed how 18 months earlier the same woman had made an allegation of rape.
He said the case never reached court because it was 'lacking in credibility', but the accused man committed suicide 'when facing that allegation'.
After failing to have this first 'rapist' brought to court, the woman set about framing Mr Fadayomi, a stranger she met in a nightclub.
A jury at Sheffield Crown Court cleared Fadayomi of rape after taking just 45 minutes to agree a verdict
The woman claimed Mr Fadayomi attacked her in a house he shared in Walkley, Sheffield.
But a friend, who was with her that evening, told the court the woman danced and kissed Mr Fadayomi, boasting: 'I'm going to have his body tonight.'
The woman later told her friend she planned to accuse the student of rape, saying: 'He is not going to get away with it, I've got evidence this time.'
Mr Fadayomi told the jury the woman had agreed to sex. He said: 'She never told me to stop and neither did she resist.'
The student, from Nigeria, was doing a biomedical sciences course at the University of East London, but the incident happened in October when he went to Sheffield to do a ten-week music production course during a study break.
After the case Mr Fadayomi recalled how the woman propositioned him by telling him she liked his 'perfume' and that 'she wouldn't mind having me that night'.
They later returned to his house, where they had sex. Mr Fadayomi then gave her £8 for a taxi and she left. He said he went out to buy food at 6am and police were waiting for him on his return.
Mr Fadayomi said of his ordeal: 'My life has been hell for the last seven months. I thought about taking my own life.
'I've not been able to sleep properly since all this happened. Some of my friends shunned me and my parents in Nigeria were heartbroken and scared of what might happen to me.'
Naheed Hussain, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South Yorkshire, last night defended the decision to bring the case but said he would conduct a review following the judge's comments 'to see if any lessons can be learned'.
He said: 'The decision to prosecute was taken by a senior lawyer. We were satisfied there was sufficient evidence not only from the complainant but from another witness whose evidence supported that of the complainant.'
The law allows defendants accused of rape to be named, but the government intends to introduce anonymity for alleged rapists until conviction.
MOTHER CLAIMED GANG WAS IN GARDEN CHARGED WITH MURDERING HER TWO CHILDREN
A mother was last night charged with murdering two of her children in a house fire.
Fiona Adams, 23, is accused of killing her five-year-old daughter Niamh and son Cayden, two.
They died in a blaze at the family's home in Buxton, Derbyshire, on April 23.
Mrs Adams, who leapt from the burning house with her eight-month-old son Kiernan in her arms, has also been charged with his attempted murder and arson.
At the time of the fire, there was speculation that local louts were responsible after Mrs Adams called police to the terraced property an hour earlier.
She claimed a gang of youths were in her garden making threats.
Shortly after, she posted a Facebook message saying 'You can smash the windows and the car but you won't get me and the kids.'
Less than 45 minutes later her home became an inferno. Mrs Adams told police she had tried to save her other children but was beaten back by the flames.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the incident at the time but was released without charge shortly after.
Police said the address was known to them after they had been called to it several times over the past three years for domestic-related incidents.
The children's father, hotel worker James Maynard, was playing pool at the time after finishing work.
Friends and family of the mother reported that she was being harassed by youths in the area on the night the fire ripped through the house.
Speaking at the time, close friend Karen Jackson, 29, said: 'Whoever did this deserves to be hanged.'
Adams is due to appear before magistrates in Chesterfield later today.
MOTHER SUSPECTED OF MURDERING HER TWO CHILDREN WAS A SOCIAL WORKER
A mother suspected of murdering her two children in Spain, had worked for Cumbria County Council's child services department, the authority has revealed.
Lianne Smith, 43, is being held on suspicion of killing Rebecca, five, and 11-month-old Daniel, who were found in a hotel room in Lloret de Mar.
Their father Martin Smith, 45, appeared in court in Carlisle on unrelated child sex offences on Wednesday.
The council said Mrs Smith devised out-of-school activities.
Post-mortem examinations are due to be carried out on the bodies of the two children later.
Cumbria County Council said Mrs Smith was employed as a manager in the authority's children's services department, but did not work directly with children.
She was responsible for devising out-of-school activities throughout the county for the benefit of pupils, parents and the community.
Her daughter Rebecca was referred by police to the council's social care team following their inquiries into allegations faced by Martin Smith.
Child protection procedures were put in place before the matter was passed to social services in Staffordshire, where Mrs Smith and her daughter moved in October 2007.
In a statement, the council said: "Lianne Smith worked for Cumbria County Council's children's services directorate from September 2005 to August 2007.
"She worked as an extended schools remodelling adviser, which entailed working with head teachers and school staff in developing additional services. She did not work directly with children.
"Rebecca Martine Smith was referred by Cumbria Constabulary to our children's social care team in August 2007 following their investigations into Martin Smith.
"Cumbria County Council carried out initial assessments and strategy discussions took place with our safeguarding partners in line with child protection procedures.
"Rebecca and her family moved to Staffordshire in October 2007. At that stage all relevant safeguarding information was passed to social services in Staffordshire, and Cumbria County Council closed its case in November 2007."
Staffordshire County Council said it had initially contacted Mrs Smith after she had moved to the area, they remained in contact until she left and continued to review the case while she was out of the county.
Mr Smith, of North Shields, was extradited from Spain over 13 charges of sexual offences against a girl aged between seven and 18 and for failing to answer police bail.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said the case had been referred to it by the two forces involved.
A spokesman said: "Cumbria Constabulary has made a voluntary referral on behalf of themselves and Staffordshire Police in relation to matters involving Martin Smith, his partner Lianne and daughter Rebecca.
"The IPCC is assessing the information contained in the referral to determine whether it needs to conduct an investigation."
EVIL LAWYER WHO LOST £33 MILLION RACE CLAIM TRIED TO DESTROY EX-BOYFRIEND
An 'evil' barrister who lost a £33million race discrimination claim ruthlessly tried to destroy her ex-boyfriend's life, a court has heard.
Dr Aisha Bijlani, 43, bombarded her former lover with abusive emails, calling his dead mother a 'whore' and branding his new girlfriend a 'German prostitute'.
She also described Atul Sehgal as a 'pathetic lapdog' and described his lover Nicola Koenig as an 'asexual freak' and 'cheap trollop' who should lick toilet bowls for a living, Blackfriars Crown Court was told.
Indian-born Bijlani last year failed in a damages claim against the prestigious Four New Square barristers' chambers, which she alleged had viewed her as nothing more than an 'educated wog'.
During the explosive employment tribunal, she revealed a glamorous legal clerk at the chambers in Lincoln's Inn was having an affair with a married judge and another leading QC.
On Monday, Bijlani launched an appeal against a 2007 conviction on two counts of harassing businessman Mr Sehgal and his new girlfriend with a string of 'alarming and abusive' messages and phone calls.
Bijlani and Mr Sehgal went out for four months in 2004 and after the romance ended they remained friends.
But as soon as he formed a relationship with Miss Koenig, his ex became intent on 'destroying' him.
In the first email, sent on June 20, Bijlani said: 'You and your friends are weak, childish, sad, low achievers, serial liars and pathetic.' She also described Mr Sehgal as a 'loser' and an 'impotent gay man'.
In a second email she referred to her ex-boyfriend's dead mother as a 'whore' and said she would not be 'impressed' as she looked down from heaven.
'Think of your mum. Would your mum be impressed with someone who behaves like this and takes her clothes off for a living?'
The court heard that this was a reference to Miss Koenig who Bijlani erroneously thought of as a 'German prostitute'.
The email added: 'No guy with a normal sex drive could be into such a flat chested, too long faced, asexual freak with large sweaty feet. Yuck.'
Mr Sehgal told the court: 'It was just evil behaviour from her. She was basically ruthlessly trying to destroy my life.'
Bijlani also sent five emails to Miss Koenig - who she had never met - in only three days. The first one started: 'Do most people call you a cheap hooker or a working class trollop?
'Since you have no qualifications and are old and past it perhaps you should get Atul's acquaintances (he has no friends) to pay you for licking their toilet bowl.'
Bijlani, from Belgravia, London, is appealing against two counts of harassment for which she received a conditional discharge at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Earlier this year, her claims against three consecutive heads of chambers at her firm - John Powell QC, Justin Fenwick QC and Roger Stewart QC, plus senior clerk Lizzy Wiseman - were dismissed by a tribunal judge.
She had told the tribunal hearing that the firm's clerks subjected her to a 'racist regime', and alleged that mother-of-four Miss Wiseman used romantic relationships with Mr Fenwick and Mr Stewart to avoid being held accountable at work.
The appeal continues.
EVIL SCOTS CHILD ABUSER TRACY McHUGH KICKED OUT OF AMERICA IS IN UK
THIS is evil child abuse mum Tracy McHugh - freely roaming the streets terrifyingly close to young kids.
We tracked the twisted Scot - caged in America for BURYING her newborn baby and TORTURING her other children - to a homeless hostel in London.
And despite being banned from ALL contact with kids, she is staying yards from a primary school.
Last night a horrified resident in upmarket Marylebone blasted: "I can't believe the authorities would allow such a dangerous woman into our community without warning us. It's just sick."
This week we saw the Glasgow-born fiend stroll past Christ Church Bentrinck Primary School and mingle with unsuspecting families at nearby shops.
McHugh, 40, was dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, sporting a baseball cap and bumbag and dragging a shopping trolley.
And at one point we spotted her staring intently at a toddler sitting only feet away in a pushchair.
McHugh's family moved to the States 30 years ago but she was deported to Britain in November 2008 after her release from prison.
A court in the US banned her for life from contact with children. But the order does not extend to UK soil.
The sicko admitted burying her baby daughter in her garden on the day she was born in 1998.
She later admitted to cops that the baby was still breathing when she gave birth to her at her home in Orlando, Florida.
The tiny skeleton was found nine years later. McHugh's other three kids were taken into care after she was convicted of child abuse in 2007 and sentenced to 27 months in prison.
She then announced she was pregnant again - but SOLD the tot for £12,000 to a private adoption agency.
When we went to the Church Army hostel the receptionist refused to let us speak to McHugh. She said: "How did you know she was here?"
A Westminster City Council spokeswoman said the local school had NOT been informed about the beast, who is being monitored by the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements.
Last night Florida police detective Richard Rose, who headed the McHugh case, said: "Well done for tracking her down. She's a dangerous woman.
"And it's important to remind people in the UK that a MONSTER is walking among them."
ANOTHER EVIL MOTHER WOMEN'S AID REFUSE TO BELIEVE EXISTS
A mother has been jailed for life for punching and kicking her toddler son to death.
Collette Harris, 30, was ordered to serve at least 16 years for murdering 21-month-old Bobby Louch. The child had at least 40 injuries and bruises after Harris battered him to death at the family home in Bexleyheath, south-east London, in December 2008.
He had "catastrophic" brain injuries and a blow to his abdomen had damaged vital organs. Most of the injuries had happened over the weekend but some of his ribs had been fractured at least two weeks before. Bobby was treated for a broken leg three weeks before his death and kept in for a scan when bruises were seen on his forehead.
Harris complained she was being "victimised" and said the bruises were the result of Bobby banging his head on his cot. A consultant at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, who had seen Bobby before, sent him home the next day after checks were made.
Harris, of Dartford, Kent, had denied killing Bobby or causing his injuries, but was found guilty of murder. She screamed "Oh my God" and collapsed in tears as the verdict was read out. She was led from the dock shouting: "I didn't do it."
She had tried to blame her new boyfriend, James Phillips, who denied killing Bobby or causing the injuries. Drug taker Phillips, 25, of Erith, Kent, was found not guilty of murder and alternate charges of manslaughter and causing or allowing the death.
The day before his death, Bobby was vomiting and looking disorientated. He had a burn mark on his right hand which could have been made by it being placed on an oven door. But Harris refused to take him to hospital. She told a friend she would be suspected of abusing him, the court heard. She had said: "How can I take him to the hospital with bruises like that on his body. They will think I am beating him up or something."
In the early hours of Monday morning, a neighbour said he heard a voice whimpering and murmuring "mummy". Later, Harris rang for an ambulance, saying: "My baby won't wake up." Bobby's face was covered in bruises.
Recorder of London Judge Peter Beaumont told Harris, who split with Dan Louch - Bobby's father - in October 2008: "This is a terrible thing you did for reasons which are quite incomprehensible."
Bobby's tearful father said later: "Bobby was our little angel and had his whole life to look forward to, but was so cruelly denied this for reasons we still can't fully comprehend. This can now bring to a close the traumatic and devastating quest to find some answers as to what happened to Bobby. Now we as a family can fully lay him to rest and complete our grieving process."
WOMAN JAILED FOR STILETTO STAMP THAT BLINDED NIGHT CLUB BOUNCER
A woman who blinded a nightclub doorman in one eye by stamping on it with her stiletto heel has been jailed for three years and four months.
A sheriff told Sarah Marsden she had inflicted an "appalling injury" on head bouncer Graham Roach outside the Shanghai nightclub in Edinburgh.
Mr Roach lost his eye despite undergoing a four-hour emergency operation after the attack last July.
Sheriff Neil MacKinnon said prison was the only appropriate sentence.
He told 37-year-old Marsden: "You inflicted an appalling injury on the complainer without any thought to the consequences for him or his family."
Marsden, from Edinburgh, had previously admitted carrying out the assault on 28-year-old Mr Roach.
Her partner Anthony Walker, 49, pled guilty to breaching the peace and was ordered to carry out 180 hours of community service.
The court had been told how Mr Roach went to help a colleague who was asking Marsden and Walker to leave the nightclub because of their drunken behaviour.
It was a fast incident with tragic consequences for the victim
But after apparently bringing the situation under control, Mr Roach fell to the ground after colliding with Walker.
Marsden then stamped on his face, splitting his eye socket wide open.
Mr Roach is due to undergo further surgery to have an implant placed in his eye to replace the damaged eye ball, although the procedure will not restore his sight.
Defence agent Victoria Good said Marsden had a "sad background" until about two years ago, which involved drug misuse from a young age which was financed by prostitution.
Ms Good said: "When she first appeared from custody the first thing she asked me was how Mr Roach was and how bad the damage was and she has expressed a deep level of remorse throughout.
"She and her partner had gone out for the evening, she had a couple of alcoholic drinks but in no way was under the influence of alcohol and would not seek to use alcohol as an excuse.
"She saw her partner involved involved in an altercation and saw him struggling with the bouncer and she thought he was being hurt and she ran down and became involved. It was a fast incident with tragic consequences for the victim."
BABYSITTER KATE HARPER ABANDONED DISABLED GIRL, 6 WHO ALMOST FROZE TO DEATH
ANOTHER LOWLIFE FEMALE THAT WOMEN'S AID REFUSE TO ACCEPT EXISTS AND IF SHE WAS MARRIED TO YOU
SHE WOULD GET CUSTODY OF YOUR CHILDREN.
A babysitter has admitted abandoning a disabled six-year-old outside overnight in temperatures just above freezing, wearing only socks and a dressing gown.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard the girl, who is deaf and blind, suffered hypothermia and almost died.
Kate Harper, 26, strapped the youngster into her pram and went to sleep in a nearby house after a fireworks party in Kingspark, Glasgow, last November.
She will return to court for sentencing next month.
The court heard that the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was discovered the following morning by a school bus driver.
The pram had tipped over, and the child was in it with her face pressed against the stone stairs.
Harper admitted abandoning the girl outside her home on 6 November.
The court was told that a party on Guy Fawkes night turned into a late night drinking session and when the 26-year-old took the youngster back to her house she realised she had forgotten her keys and abandoned the girl outside.
The circumstances were such that doctors believed there was a danger to the life of the young girl
She headed back to collect the keys but instead of returning with them went to sleep in her sister's house.
Prosecutor Tony Quigley said: "Unfortunately what happened was that the accused went inside her sister's and got into bed and fell asleep which meant that the child was still in the pram outside her house further down the street."
A bus driver and classroom assistant arrived just before 0830 GMT to take the girl to school, where she receives supported learning.
Mr Quigley continued: "They saw the pram which had tipped over and noticed that the child was in it with her face pressed against the stone stairs outside the house.
"She was shivering and her lips were blue.
"They immediately called for an ambulance and the police."
'Tragic case'
As paramedics treated the girl, Harper was spotted walking down the street from her sister's house.
Police officers spoke to her, and she told them she had very little recollection of what had happened the night before.
She was taken to Aitkenhead Road police office and later admitted to abandoning the girl.
The youngster was taken to Yorkhill Hospital where doctors treated her for hypothermia and bruising from the straps of the pram.
Mr Quigley added: "The circumstances were such that doctors believed there was a danger to the life of the young girl."
The court heard that the Met Office estimated temperatures that night to be around 3C.
Defence lawyer Ross Yuill said that the case was "tragic".
Sheriff Kenneth Mitchell deferred sentence for background reports.
EX-ROYAL AIDE WHO STABBED HER BOYFRIEND TO DEATH FACES ABSCONDING CHARGES
A former royal aide who was jailed for stabbing her boyfriend to death is due to appear in court accused of absconding from an open prison.
Jane Andrews, 43, triggered a large-scale search after she walked out from East Sutton Park open prison near Maidstone last November.
The former dresser to the Duchess of York was returned to custody more than two days later after being found at a Premier Inn hotel near Maidstone, a few miles from East Sutton Park.
She has since been remanded at HMP Holloway in north London and will appear at Maidstone Magistrates' Court to answer a charge of absconding.
Kent Police said the decision to take further action against her was jointly made by the force and prosecutors from the Crown Prosecution Service.
Andrews was jailed for life after being convicted of murdering wealthy businessman Tom Cressman in 2001 when he refused to marry her.
She was ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years in jail after a jury at the Old Bailey accepted the prosecution case that she killed Mr Cressman at the home they shared in Fulham, south-west London.
She was only eight-and-a-half years into her sentence when she was moved to East Sutton Park and was judged to be eligible for parole in 2012.
MISSING MEXICAN GIRL FOUND AS MOTHER SUSPECTED OF SUFFOCATION
TOLUCA, Mexico — A disabled 4-year-old girl whose disappearance last week sparked an outpouring of sympathy across Mexico was found dead in her own bedroom days later. Prosecutors said Wednesday the girl was asphyxiated and her mother is a suspect.
The shocking discovery of the lifeless Paulette Gebara Farah under the mattress of her own bed at her wealthy parents' apartment left prosecutors struggling to explain how multiple searches could have been conducted without the body being found.
Investigators weren't even looking for the girl in the apartment on the outskirts of Mexico City when they found her body late Tuesday, but were searching for suitcases or other family possessions that might have been missing or moved.
"There was a presence of odors," Mexico State Attorney General Alberto Bazbaz said.
Still, Bazbaz also said he had talked with the mother in the bedroom where the body was found but had not detected anything. His comment suggested the grisly possibility that the mother, a lawyer, had spoken with authorities and journalists while sitting on the same bed under which they body was found.
Since the girl was reported missing March 22 by her parents, the family and supporters had scattered images of the girl wearing a princess dress on billboards and flyers across Mexico City, a region where occasional reports of child stealing have created dread among many parents.
The girl had difficulties walking and talking due to an unspecified disability.
Bazbaz said prosecutors initially assumed they were dealing with a case in which the girl had somehow been taken from the luxury apartment building. But he said they became suspicious of the mother, Lisette Farah, after she was overheard telling her other daughter not to talk because the family might be blamed for the disappearance.
Lisette Farah, her husband, Mauricio Gebara, and two nannies had been put under a form of house arrest for questioning Monday, after authorities said they detected contradictions in their statements to police.
Authorities said Monday that the four were not suspects. They were being held at a government facility and were not available to comment on the prosecutors' statement Wednesday.
It was unclear whether the spot where the body was found wrapped in sheets was where the girl died, or whether the body had been moved, authorities said.
While the results of an autopsy are pending, Bazbaz said the death was caused by "asphyxiation by suffocation," but no other signs of violence were immediately found.
"This is an investigation of a homicide case," he said.
The family lives in Huixquilican, an upscale suburb of Mexico City located in Mexico State, which borders the capital.
In previous television interviews, the mother said she had put Paulette to bed in her bedroom the night of March 21. The next morning, one of her nannies reported Paulette wasn't in her room, and investigators found no signs of forced entry to the apartment.
Farah pleaded for her daughter's return at a news conference held outside the apartment building Sunday night.
"Please, I'm desperate. Half of my heart has been taken," she said.
AND THIS EVIL BITCH WOULD LIKELY GET CUSTODY OF YOUR CHILDREN IF YOU WERE MARRIED TO
HER, GOD FORBID.
Across the world corrupt judges, lawyers and social workers are handing men's children
over to monsters like this, in bitter custody disputes caused on many occasions by
women going completely off the rails. This video shows how radical
feminism has allowed these types of females to GET AWAY WITH MURDER.
WOMAN KILLS BOYFRIEND'S PUP THROWING IT INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC VIDEO
A teenage girl has been jailed for life for killing a Fife grandmother during a row over £5 and a borrowed cigarette.
Nicolle Earley - one of Scotland's youngest female murderers - was 16 when she killed Ann Gray in her home in Crosshill on 14 November 2008.
At the High Court in Edinburgh, Earley, now 18, was ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years in prison.
The victim's family said the sentence was "a joke" and said Earley should have had a minimum term of 30 years.
Mrs Gray, 63, died as a result of a head injury after she was knocked to the ground and repeatedly stamped on.
Earley pleaded guilty to the murder last month.
Judge Lady Dorrian said she had reduced the minimum sentence from 15 years because of Earley's guilty plea.
The judge said: "There is only one sentence I can pass following a plea of guilty to murder and that is detention for life."
Outside court, Mrs Gray's daughters said they hoped Earley would never be freed from custody.
Anne-Marie McLeod, 44, said she was "very angry" following the hearing.
"Fourteen years, it's nothing. It's shocking, it really is," she said.
Ms McLeod said she would have liked to have seen a minimum sentence of 20 to 30 years for her mother's murder.
She added: "Obviously that wasn't going to happen. I hope she never gets out. She doesn't deserve it.
"There's no justice today."
Andrena Gray, 37, added: "It's a joke. My mum's life was worth more than that. The justice system's a joke."
Unemployed Earley was living with her grandmother, who stayed in the same street as Mrs Gray and was friends with the victim, at the time of the murder.
Advocate depute Morag Jack said that on the day before the fatal attack Mrs Gray had apparently borrowed a cigarette from Earley on the understanding she would get two in return the next day.
Ms Jack said Earley left her grandmother's home to go to see Mrs Gray "to retrieve the cigarettes she was owed".
Mrs Gray's daughters said they hoped Earley would never be freed from custody
"When the deceased came to the door there was an argument about the cigarette and money the accused was due for going shopping," said the advocate depute.
Mrs Gray was pushed to the ground and suffered a fractured jaw and broken cheek bone along with a fractured bone in her upper neck.
Defence solicitor advocate Gordon Martin said Earley, who has a previous conviction for assault, came from "a particularly troubled background" and was involved in trouble at school.
MARYLAND MOTHER CONVICTED OF KILLING KIDS FOUND IN FREEZER
ROCKVILLE, Md. - A Maryland woman who adopted three children despite a troubled past was convicted Monday of murdering two of the girls, whose bodies were stored in a freezer as the woman continued collecting payments meant to help with their care.
Renee Bowman, 44, kept the bodies of the two young girls on ice for months while she continued to collect subsidies paid to parents who adopt special-needs children in the District of Columbia, receiving a total of about $150,000 since adopting the girls.
The bodies were found after the third daughter escaped by jumping out a window. The girl, now 9 and living with new foster parents, testified in the murder trial last week about the abuse she and her sisters endured — being beaten with a baseball bat and shoes and choked until they lost consciousness.
The girl's older sisters, Minnet and Jasmine Bowman, were both younger than 10 when they died, though authorities were never able to determine exactly when the murders occurred. Nobody knew they were missing, and there are no records the children were ever enrolled in school. Prosecutors said Bowman killed them while the family was living in Rockville and took the freezer with her when the family moved first to Charles County and later to Lusby, in Calvert County.
Bowman showed no emotion as she listened to the verdict — guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree child abuse. Jurors deliberated for about two hours.
Prosecutors said they would ask for life in prison without the possibility of parole when Bowman is sentenced March 22. Bowman's attorneys did not immediately return a call seeking comment. She has already been sentenced to 25 years in prison in Calvert County for abusing the surviving girl.
Afterward, jurors said the main issue was whether to convict her of first- or second-degree murder. Bowman's lawyer had argued the killings weren't premeditated.
"I am not going to insult your intelligence and say to you that she did not hurt those children, that she did not abuse those children," public defender Alan Drew told the jury. "Renee Bowman is not guilty of first-degree premeditated murder."
However, prosecutors argued the killings were deliberate, and Bowman's former cellmate testified that Bowman confided to her that she smothered them.
"She made a decision to go down, take a pillow, and smother these children," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said in his closing arguments.
During her testimony, the surviving girl clutched a Valentine's Day teddy bear as she told the jury about the abuse she suffered at the hands of the woman she called her "ex-mother"
She said she and her sisters were kept in a locked room in their Rockville home.
"There was a bucket where we went to the bathroom because we weren't allowed out of the room," she said.
McCarthy asked the girl where she had been beaten the worst. Asked to demonstrate on the bear, she pointed to its backside and its crotch.
The girl often waved happily at her foster mother during the testimony and talked about the books she likes to read. That contrasted sharply to a photo McCarthy showed that was taken in the hospital after she was found. In the photo, she stares with frightened eyes and part of her lip is missing — a result of the abuse, authorities say.
Bowman was able to adopt the children despite being convicted of threatening a 72-year-old man over damage to her car. She also had filed for bankruptcy, even though D.C. officials said financial stability is a requirement for adoption.
An NHS manager who bragged: 'I'm better than a man' during a lesbian attack on the eve of a conference was jailed for 12 months yesterday.
Teresa Cottingham, 35, drunkenly floored the young woman victim with a tae kwon do move and removed her underwear, during the hotel-room assault.
She throttled the victim, prised her legs apart and performed a sex act.
The since newlywed mother-of-one has been sacked from her top post with Sussex Partnership, an Eastbourne-based mental health trust, over the 'devastating' scandal, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.
Adam Davis, prosecuting, said Cottingham travelled to the capital from Eastbourne on January 26 last year and checked into the Premier Inn, Euston.
She then joined a group in a Weatherspoon's pub in nearby Baker Street, where she became 'almost senseless' with booze.
The victim, who was known to her, escorted her back to the hotel in a taxi.
The barrister said: 'In the hotel room the defendant collapsed onto the bed. She started to get undressed and ended up in a vest top and knickers. Ms Cottingham asked the victim to make a cup of tea.
'The victim had her back to the defendant and it seems the defendant tried to pull her back onto the bed by the waistband of her shorts. She refers to the defendant as keeping on trying to pull her onto the bed.'
The concerned young woman warned her: "Look Teresa, you'll regret this in the morning", and finished making the bedtime drink.'
But Cottingham would not take 'no' for an answer and yelled 'you know you want it, you've been parading your a*** in front of me'.
'The defendant then pulled her onto the bed and there was a struggle,' added the prosecutor.
As she tried to subdue her victim, she bragged: 'I know what I'm doing - I'm better than a man.'
The victim at first thought Cottingham was joking, but realised she meant business when she tripped her over with a martial arts move, causing her to hit her head on a cupboard.
The barrister said: 'There was a certain amount of wrestling, with the complainant making it perfectly clear she didn't want to participate. Cottingham got more aggressive and forceful.'
The woman, who cannot be identified, took advantage of a breathless pause to hoist herself onto the bed and away from Cottingham, who demanded to know: 'What do you want?' and was told: 'Get off me.'
'The victim's shorts and underwear had been taken off by this point, said the prosecutor, who added that the victim was grabbed by the throat.
'She was pushed back and every time she tried to move, her throat was squeezed harder.' Pushing her limbs apart she ordered: 'Just lay there with your legs apart,' and scratched her inner thighs.
She then performed the sex act on her victim.
Eventually Cottingham said 'if you're not comfortable with this, I'll stop', but the victim told her it was 'too late for that'.
Cottingham then fell asleep, leaving the woman alone.
When Cottingham was arrested on February 5 she claimed the drunken incident was between 'two consenting adults' but confessed she had carpet burns on her knees.
She eventually changed her plea to guilty on the first day of her trial on January 4 this year, despite being unable to recall much of what happened.
Sharon Bailey, defending, urged Judge Ian Karsten QC to suspend any prison sentence he had to pass because Cottingham, who acted 'completely out-of-character' has already suffered enough.
She had managed to get a job in a pub but was forced to leave after her secret got out.
'She had a professional position with a good salary,' said the barrister.
'She is no longer able to keep up with her outgoings and this may result in her being made bankrupt.' The barrister added that Cottingham is now Mrs Chapman after marrying a man - who wept in the public gallery - just last week.
But the judge said: 'If this had been a man doing this, everyone would say "he has got to go down".' He added: 'This was a horrid attack.
'I accept you were drunk and that had you not been, you would not have done anything like that.
'It was a violent assault and humiliating for the victim. The impact statement shows it's really had long-term serious effects on her.
'As sex assaults go I have to say it really is a bad case.'
Cottingham, of Lewes, East Sussex, admitted sexual assault and denied assault by penetration, which was left to lie on the court file.
EVIL WOMAN USED FACEBOOK TO TAR HER NEIGHBOUR AS A PERVERT
Father speaks out over false paedophile Facebook post
The Chatfields' children were too scared to go in the front garden
A father has spoken of his ordeal after being wrongly named as a paedophile on Facebook by a disgruntled neighbour.
Luke Chatfield was forced to leave his job, abused in the street and had a panic alarm installed at his home in Sale, Greater Manchester.
The father-of-three said his neighbour, Sally Pepper, posted the "evil lies" due to a dispute about her loud music.
A police spokesman said Ms Pepper was fined £80 for sending false messages likely to cause distress.
Ms Pepper posted the message on a Facebook vigilante site for sex offenders, which has since been removed.
She wrote: "I know another one, Luke Chatfield, he works in BBs cafe, Stretford Arndale."
Another user then responded with: "Anyone know his house number?"
Mr Chatfield only found out when someone told him about it at work.
'Constant abuse'
"I had to leave my job," he said, "It was too much to cope with, she had posted where I worked and I was getting constant abuse.
"We had snowballs pelted at my house and my three young children were even too scared to go in the front garden in case they saw her."
Mr Chatfield's wife Karen said she felt Ms Pepper had "got away with her evil lies".
Mr Chatfield, who also volunteers at his children's school, has a clean criminal record bureau (CRB) check and has never broken the law.
"Two of my children are disabled, my wife is registered disabled, and I have to make sure my family is fed.
Sally Pepper told the BBC she did not regret what she did
"Losing about £1,500 in earnings after being forced out of my job has made life even more difficult.
"She has almost destroyed my life."
Ms Pepper told the BBC that she "was a nervous wreck" and wants to move house. She said she did not regret what she did.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman added: "Officers spoke to a woman about the offence and issued her with a fixed penalty notice for sending false messages likely to cause distress under the Communications Act.
"Both parties were in agreement with this course of action.
"The Safe Neighbourhood Policing Team has also been working with the housing trust in an effort to resolve any long-term issues between the neighbours."
WOMAN JAILED FOR THROWING MICROWAVE FROM 10TH FLOOR FLAT
A woman who threw a microwave oven out of a 10th floor flat window in Edinburgh in a "moment of madness" has been jailed for six months.
Lea Farquharson, 42, had argued with her partner before he went out and as he came back into the building she threw the oven in a bid to "scare him".
She admitted culpably and recklessly throwing a microwave oven to the danger of the public on 27 June last year.
The incident happened at Dunsyre House South, Calder Crescent.
Passing sentence at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Sheriff James Scott said: "I am satisfied no sentence other than a custodial sentence is appropriate given the gravity of the offence and the potential danger to the public.
"Somebody could have come out of the basement of the block of flats and it could have been disastrous."
He looked up and saw Farquharson throwing the microwave out of her lounge window
At an earlier hearing fiscal depute Gerard Drugan said Farquharson and her then partner Allan Addison had been drinking at her flat when an argument broke out.
He said: "Mr Addison left to go to nearby shops leaving Farquharson within.
"As he was walking back towards the entrance to the block of flats he heard someone shout out his name.
"He looked up and saw Farquharson throwing the microwave out of her lounge window."
The court heard the item smashed metres from Mr Addison, who was not injured.
Police were contacted and Farquharson was taken into custody.
Excessive alcohol
During a police interview Farquharson admitted throwing the microwave, saying: "I didn't do it to hurt him, I did it to scare him."
The fiscal added that Farquharson explained her behaviour as a "moment of madness" which was "influenced by drink".
Farquharson and Mr Addison are no longer in a relationship, the court heard.
Defence agent Stephen Knowles asked for his client to be spared jail.
He said she had been assessed as being of a low-risk of re-offending and that the offences stemmed from excessive consumption of alcohol.
WOMAN ACCUSED OF FEEDING DRUGS TO TODDLER AND BURNING WITH A LIT CIGARETTE
A woman has gone on trial accused of feeding drugs to a toddler and burning the child with lit cigarettes.
Charlene McGregor, 30, from Glasgow, is also accused of holding the two-year-old down, hitting her and burning her with a hot safety pin.
She has also been charged with locking the youngster in a bedroom. Ms McGregor denies the charges and blames a friend, Steven Ellis, for the abuse.
The trial, before Sheriff Robert Anthony, continues.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard from witness Elizabeth Stewart who claimed that she saw Ms McGregor give the child part of what looked like a tablet.
Bruised leg
Ms Stewart said Ms McGregor lifted something from the mantlepiece in her home and gave it to the girl after she started screaming that she wanted a bit.
The court also heard from Mr Ellis who claimed that he noticed blisters on the child's feet and bruising on her leg.
He told the court that Ms McGregor said the blisters had been caused by her boots rubbing against her feet. He also said the child was limping and received no treatment for the blisters.
Under questioning from Ms McGregor's defence counsel, Mr Ellis denied that he had caused the injuries.
When asked if he had been convicted of assault before, he admitted that he had been found guilty of a knife attack.
The court also heard that he was acquitted of murder in 1996 and had initially been charged with the assaults on the child but that the Crown decided to take no further proceedings against him.
Ms McGregor, from Linthouse, Glasgow, denies burning the child's body, arm, legs, ankles, heels and feet to her severe injury in November 2007.
She also pleaded not guilty to striking her on the body and throwing her onto a couch and neglecting her while she was babysitting on various dates between October and November 2007.
She is blaming Mr Ellis who she claims carried out the assaults while he was left alone with the child.
BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A 2-year-old is recovering after his mother drowned his 4-year-old sister, attempted to drown him and then shot herself while making a 911 call, Glynn County police said.
Police said 21-year-old Julia Murray dialed 911 Tuesday morning and told the operator she had drowned her children. She then told the operator she had just shot herself.
Officers found Murray lying near a revolver in one room, and the still-wet bodies of her son and daughter in their bedroom, county Police Chief Matt Doering said.
Police Capt. Marissa Tindale told The Florida Times-Union the girl, Ansli, and boy, Creighton, were found next to each other in bed.
Mother and daughter were pronounced dead at a Brunswick hospital. Tindale said Creighton was in stable condition and is expected to recover.
Doering said the evidence is consistent with Murray's 911 call. It appears to be a homicide, attempted homicide and a suicide," Doering said.
He said the revolver recovered by Murray's body belonged to the family and appears to be the one used in the shooting.
Murray offered no explanation for what she did in the 911 call, and no note or other message had been found, Tindale said.
FIRST PICTURE OF WOMAN ACCUSED OF STABBING BOYFRIEND IN EYE WITH STILETTO
This is the first picture of Staci Hargreaves, who appeared in court charged with wounding her boyfriend by stabbing him in the eye with a stiletto heel.
It is believed the shoe penetrated Gavin Taylor's eye socket and touched his brain. Taylor remains in hospital in a critical condition.
Hargreaves, 33, from Stalybridge, Cheshire, appeared before Bradford Crown Court charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The charge carries a possible life sentence.
Hargreaves allegedly attacked Taylor, 28, in the back of a taxi while heading home from a night out in Huddersfield on Sunday 7 February.
The pair were travelling through Huddersfield town centre at 2am when the incident occurred.
Taylor was rushed to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary with the horrific injury where he was treated before being transferred to a specialist ward in Leeds.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said shortly after the attack: 'At around 2am on Sunday, police received reports of a serious assault which occurred in a vehicle travelling through Huddersfield town centre.
'A 28-year-old man was struck to the head and taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
'He was subsequently transferred to Leeds General Infirmary and is currently in a stable but critical condition.'
Hargreaves was granted conditional bail to appear at Bradford Crown Court on April 29 for a plea and case management hearing, with a provisional date of July 19 for trial.
Five years ago, Taylor was jailed for 16 months for his part in the drowning of a loner 'for a joke' who was terrified of water.
Father of three Chris Mattison, 42, had been dangled over the freezing River Thame and then left to drown when the line holding him broke.
His body was found four days later.
Four people were jailed for the attack, including Taylor, with another sent to a young offenders' institution. Taylor admitted false imprisonment.
