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British security guard Danny Fitzsimons is jailed for 20 years by an Iraqi court for the murder of two colleagues.
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Barry McCarney is accused of murdering Millie (Picture:Impartial Reporter) The man accused of murdering toddler Millie Martin has told Enniskilllen Magistrates court he is innocent.
Barry McCarney, 31, of Bridge street Trillick, said he did not lay a hand on Millie and “was sickened and saddened by her death”.
He faces four charges including murder, a serious sexual assault, unlawful death and grievous bodily harm.
Fifteen-month-old Millie died after being brought to the Erne hospital in a lifeless condition in 2009.
Mr McCarney, appeared in court along with his former partner and Millie’s mother Rachel Martin.
Ms Martin, 27, from Kesh, faces two charges of allowing the death of her daughter and wilful neglect.
She is heavily pregnant and told the court she did not wish to say anything but her solicitor said she “absolutely denied” the offences.
They will both appear at Omagh Crown Court on 22 March.
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Reports say the smouldering supermarket in Sohar was looted Protesters have taken to the streets in the Gulf state of Oman for a third day to call for political reforms.
Hundreds of people blocked roads in Sohar, Oman’s main industrial centre, while others maintained a vigil at a central roundabout.
A supermarket was set on fire by protesters and looted, and state property was damaged.
The new protests came a day after Oman’s ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said promised to create more jobs.
He also announced a new ministerial committee to examine calls for more powers to be given to the elected consultative council.
Witnesses say two people were killed in Sunday’s clashes, but the government has only confirmed one death.
Until now, Oman had mostly been spared the unrest which has affected other Arab states in recent months.
Ruled by Al Said family since 1744Sandhurst-trained Sultan Qaboos seized power from father in 1970Population 2.9 millionMain export is oil
Sohar, Oman’s second largest port, handles oil products equivalent to around 160,000 barrels of oil a day.
But a port spokeswoman told Reuters news agency exports were unaffected by the protests, despite an industrial area including the port, a refinery and an aluminium factory being blocked by demonstrators.
Protesters called for “the trial of all ministers” and the “abolition of all taxes”.
There have been reports of protests in other cities. Reuters said two demonstrations were held in the capital Muscat.
At least one person died after being shot with rubber bullets as protesters tried to storm a police station on Sunday.
The oldest independent state in the Arab world, Oman has been ruled by Sultan Qaboos since he seized power from his father, Sultan Said bin Taimur, in 1970.
There is an elected Consultative Assembly but not all Omani adults are eligible to vote in elections for the Assembly and it is purely advisory, with no legislative powers.
The oil-rich country is a popular tourist destination and a long-standing ally of the US and Britain.
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Jorge Videla was Argentina’s military leader from 1976 to 1981 The trial is due to begin in Argentina of two former military leaders who are accused of overseeing the theft of babies from political prisoners.
Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone are accused of kidnapping some 30 children whose parents died or disappeared during the 1976-1982 military rule.
Six others, including ex-military officers and a doctor, also face trial.
More than 100 children are known to have been given for adoption to military or police couples.
The long-awaited trial, which is being televised, is the first time Argentina’s military leaders have faced charges of operating a systematic plan to steal babies from pregnant prisoners.
The parents were then killed or “disappeared”.
The defendants are charged with “taking, retaining and hiding minors and changing their identities”.
The trial is focussing on the fate of at least 34 children who were born to mothers being held in the two main prisons used during military rule, the Naval Mechanics School, or Esma, and the Campo de Mayo military base.
The case has come to trial due mainly to the efforts of the human rights group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who have campaigned to find out what happened not only to their children but also their grandchildren.
It is expected the trial, being held in a Buenos Aires court, will take several months at least, with some 370 witnesses expected to testify.
Videla, 85, has already been sentenced to life after being found guilty of crimes against humanity, while Bignone, 83, was given 25 years in jail last April after being convinced of human rights abuses.
The others accused of involvement in the systematic theft of babies are: Santiago Omar Riveros, Ruben Oscar Franco, Antonio Vanek, Jorge Luis Magnacco, Juan Antonio Azic and Jorge Acosta.
Human rights groups say some 30,000 people died or disappeared during what became known as the Dirty War.
They say at least 400 children were “stolen”.
The Grandmothers have identified dozens of children of people who disappeared during this time.
But some adopted children have said they would rather not know their origins, especially if the information implicates their adoptive parents in illegal acts.
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The EU has imposed sanctions including an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on Libyan authorities, including leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.
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Paul Owens died after being stabbed in Newcastle Two people have appeared in court in Downpatrick in connection with the murder of 18-year-old Paul Owens.
Mr Owens was assaulted on the Bryansford Road at about 0100 GMT on Saturday. He died later in hospital.
David Kennaway, 26, from Kenard Villas, Newry, and Lyndsey Cahoon, 20, of Central Promenade, Newcastle, appeared in court over the murder.
Mr Kennaway was charged with murder, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
He spoke only to confirm he understood the charges.
Ms Cahoon was charged with providing a false description of an alleged offender and asking the co-accused to give false information to the police.
David Kennaway was remanded in custody.
During a bail application for Ms Cahoon, a detective told the court there was evidence that she had already attempted to destroy the murder weapon.
He said knives had been seized, but there was as yet no scientific link connecting them to the victim.
The district judge refused bail on the grounds that the murder weapon had still not been found and because of the risk of interference with witnesses.
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Ed Miliband says those at the top have benefited most from economic growth Ed Miliband is to warn of a “cost of living crisis” hitting low and middle-earners even if the economy improves.
The Labour leader will argue that “wage stagnation”, along with government spending cuts and benefit reforms, will adversely affect living standards.
Families with children will be the hardest hit, he will add.
The coalition government says its cuts programme is necessary to remove the budget deficit and boost economic growth while aiding general prosperity.
The Resolution Foundation think-tank, a meeting of which Mr Miliband will address in central London, suggests wages for low and middle earners have failed to keep pace with wider economic growth since the 1970s.
The Labour leader will say: “There is now a very real risk that we will see the longer-term pressure on wages for those on middle and low incomes colliding with rising prices, tax and benefit changes introduced by this Tory-led government and public service cuts which all hit families with children the hardest.
“My fear for those on middle and low incomes is that more and more families will face a cost of living crisis that will see them left behind, even as the economy eventually recovers.
“The failure of the government is two-fold: they are not taking steps to build a different kind of economy, and they are hitting lower and middle-income families hardest in the way they are cutting the deficit.”
Mr Miliband will admit that the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown bear some responsibility for failing to ensure “fairness” in terms of the gap between the richest and poorest in society.
He will say: “Over the last 20 to 30 years that once-safe assumption [that the proceeds of growth would be shared] has broken down.
“While those at the top have done well, middle and low earners are no longer guaranteed the proceeds of growth.
“Our economy is increasingly unfair not just for those at the bottom but for many of those in the middle as well.”
The coalition is worsening the situation by raising VAT and cutting tax credits, he will argue.
Mr Miliband will add: “The task for the future is to build a different sort of economy; a high-quality economy with quality jobs and a better quality of life.
“That means good jobs at good wages for middle and lower income families. And a tax and benefit system that supports families with children, not one which is increasingly skewed against them, as we see under this government.
“When the prospects for families with children look so bleak, that is why the British Promise in which we once believed the next generation would always do better than the last, is now under threat like never before.”
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The reconstruction gives a vivid impression of a Stone Age hunter Oetzi the Iceman has reappeared looking fighting fit – as a new model on show in the Italian Alps, where he died from an arrow wound some 5,300 years ago.
In 1991 a German couple found Oetzi’s mummified corpse embedded in a glacier, in a high mountain pass.
Using 3D images of the corpse and forensic technology two Dutch experts – Alfons and Adrie Kennis – created a new Oetzi model. They gave him brown eyes.
The model is on show at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano.
The museum is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Iceman discovery – a find which became an international sensation.
Oetzi was found still wearing goatskin leggings and a grass cape, and his copper-headed axe and a quiver full of arrows were lying nearby.
He was named after the Oetz Valley, on the Italy-Austria border, where he was found.
Researchers say Oetzi was about 159cm tall (5ft, 2.5in), 46 years old, arthritic and infested with whipworm.
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Craig Bellamy accepted a caution for common assault Wales and Cardiff City striker Craig Bellamy has received a caution for common assault.
The 31-year-old was on police bail following a disturbance in Cardiff city centre early on Sunday, 9 January.
He has now attended a police station in Cardiff and accepted the caution.
It was alleged that two men in their 20s had minor facial injuries which did not need hospital treatment following the incident in Caroline Street.
Bellamy is on loan to Championship club Cardiff City from Premier League high-flyers Manchester City.
He has made a big impact on Cardiff’s season and scored some vital goals.
These included the 85th minute winner in the derby game against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium earlier this month.
He has stepped down from the captaincy of Wales, saying that his knee problems meant he would not be able to play every game.
Bellamy’s previous clubs have included Norwich, Coventry, Celtic, Liverpool and West Ham.
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The proposed high speed train will reach speeds of 250mph The government is attempting to reassure people over the noise levels from the planned HS2 high speed trains. But how loud are these trains and what can be done to mitigate the noise?
Powerful trains have long barrelled down tracks blowing their horns. But faster lines mean louder trains.
It is thought that around 4,860 homes in England will experience extra noise as a result of the proposed train line, according to a study by the Department of Transport. An estimated 10 properties will suffer from high noise levels and another 150 will need noise insulation.
So just how loud will the proposed trains be?
The government is yet to indicated the volume level, but according to the Telegraph, the Department of Transport has hired engineering firm Arup to demonstrate the noise to concerned members of the public.
A simulation of the train’s noise when it passes through various points can be heard through headphones at a series of roadshows.
The simulated sound has been created by using a recording of the 217mph high speed trains in France and then adjusting the sound to take into account Britain’s potentially even faster trains. The government believes 250mph trains could be available by 2020.
The recording is tweaked to take into account the ambient sounds from various locations along the route.
Despite an absence of official numbers, the chairwoman of the Stop HS2 group Lizzie Williams estimates at 50m from the track, the noise from the trains will be “between 95 and 97 decibels every two minutes if the line runs at capacity”.
The decibel measurement is on a scale from zero – silence – to 140 – the approximate sound of a jet engine.
Traffic from motorways could be more disruptive than noise from high speed trains But speed isn’t the only determinant of train noise. How bothersome the noise is depends on the pitch and the quality of the sound, says Royal Academy of Engineering network rail research professor Roderick Smith.
“A freight train on a poorly maintained track will create a lot more noise for a longer time,” he explains.
In Germany, residents have long been used to hearing high speed Deutsche Bahn trains.
“We don’t see very many complaints when it comes to the noise of the high speed lines, but we see a number or complaints about the noise of the freight transport lines,” a spokesman says.
At 25m from the track the 85 decibel noise of their 155mph high speed train is mitigated by noise reduction measures mandated by law.
A part of BBC News Magazine, Who, What, Why? aims to answer questions behind the headlines
Though attempts will be made to manage the noise in the UK, the chairman of VoxOpp (Villages of Oxfordshire Opposing HS2), Bernie Douglas, says concrete plans have yet to be released.
But there is already speculation about the tactics the government might employ to reduce the potential noise pollution.
“You can build big earth ramparts and you can also put brown picket fences that are about 5m high,” says Mr Douglas.
An even better option is planting trees, which look more natural and also absorb carbon dioxide, says Prof Smith.
But it’s debatable whether the more natural options, though aesthetically pleasing, are as effective in masking the sounds.
It’s debatable whether or not trees help mitigate sound from trains “From what we understand trees do not have much impact on noise. They could be used to hide a lot of the features, but that’s all they might be used for,” says Douglas.
There are two principle sources of the noise that comes from trains – the interaction of the wheels and the rails, and the aerodynamic noise of the train passing through the air very quickly, explains Prof Smith.
“Broadly speaking these trains are no worse than the noise from a highway and generally more acceptable in that the noise is not continuous, whereas the noise from a highway is a constant buzz throughout the day and often throughout the night as well.
“I’m not saying these trains are completely soundless and won’t cause some sort of disruption, but it can be managed and it can be managed rather easily.”
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Ian Bell tells the BBC that England will “turn up like we’re playing India” when they face Ireland in Wednesday’s World Cup Group B tie.
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Legal aid changes in England and Wales could mean hundreds of thousands more people representing themselves in court, judges have warned. So how exactly do you become an amateur lawyer?
You know how it works. You’ve seen the courtroom dramas – Rumpole of the Bailey, Kavanagh QC, Judge John Deed – and, by now, you’re surely a fully-fledged legal expert.
There’s the wig, of course, and you can’t forget the gown. And you have to say things like, “in my submission” and “I put it to you, m’lud”.
The case for the prosecution rests. How hard can it be?
Except that thousands of people each year find out just how onerous a task representing oneself in court actually is – and it is a phenomenon that some in the profession believe could be about to become increasingly prevalent.
The Judges’ Council, which is chaired by Lord Igor Judge, the head of the judiciary, has warned that government plans to remove £350m from the legal aid budget could result in a surge of amateur barristers clogging up the system.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) insists there is “little substantive evidence” that litigants in person delay proceedings and that any increase should not significantly impact proceedings.
No clear statistics are available on how many people actually represent themselves. The Northern Irish courts services say such information is not collated in their jurisdiction and their Scottish equivalents are also not able to provide figures.
However, according to the MoJ, in England and Wales either one party or both did not state that they had legal representation in some 94,672 family cases heard by the High Court and in county courts during 2009/10.
“You have to be courageous and address your own fear”
Lindis Percy
A lawyer who acts for him or herself has a fool for a client, runs the old legal adage – but there have been prominent recent examples of people making the choice.
The Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan sacked his legal team and represented himself during his initially successful civil case against the News of the News of the World in 2006. However, repeating the same strategy did not prove quite so effective during his resulting criminal trial for perjury in 2010 – he was found guilty and jailed for three years.
Heather Mills acted on her own behalf during her divorce proceedings from Sir Paul McCartney in 2006, earning £14m for herself and £2.5m to buy a house in London – but falling way short of the £125m she had been seeking.
One less well-known serial litigant-in-person is Lindis Percy, 66, a grandmother and peace activist from Harrogate, north Yorkshire, whose activities have means she has “lost count” of the number of times she has represented herself before magistrates, in Crown and civil courts, at the High Court and in appeals.
Despite working variously as a nurse, midwife and health visitor, Ms Percy, who protests against US military bases in the UK, has spent hours in libraries poring over legal textbooks to prepare her cases.
She admits that stepping into a courtroom to take on an array of highly-trained legal professionals is terrifying. But she says that, without access to legal aid or the financial resources to instruct a barrister every time she ends up in the dock, she has little choice.
“I’d advise anybody, if they’re about to represent themselves, just to sit in a court and get a feel for the place,” she says.
“You get to understand that a court is like a theatre – you get all these characters, the judges and the ushers and the clerks.
“It’s very intimidating. It’s very difficult to cross-examine. But you have to be courageous and address your own fear.”
Ms Percy acknowledges that, because she has the confidence that comes with being middle class and committed to her cause, she finds it easier than most to swallow her nervousness and face down the opposition.
But, unsurprisingly, legal professionals are less enamoured of her characterisation of the plucky amateur taking on the ritual and flummery of the bench.
Nick Armstrong is a barrister with Matrix chambers whose specialisms include immigration and mental health law. He fears any reductions to the legal aid budget because most of his clients, he says, simply do not have the language skills or the capacity to present their case effectively before a judge.
Quite understandably, he adds, even the most fluent of non-lawyers rarely manage to get to grips with the finer points of law, the standards of evidence and the advocacy techniques that professionals take years of training to develop.
His advice to potential litigants in person – get represented. Quickly.
“It can be a complete disaster for the individuals involved,” he says. “I’ve watched cases implode because someone has under-prepared.
“These cases get won or lost because someone has spent an enormous amount of time with a client who doesn’t understand why it’s important to dig out every receipt and every telephone call.
“At the end of the day, the judge has to decide on the basis of evidence. If that isn’t put before them, you’ve lost.”
“It’s a bit like a school pupil going before the headmaster”
Prof Richard Moorhead Cardiff Law School
Despite the legal profession’s doubts, the phenomenon of self-representation is not well studied in the UK.
In 2005, however, Prof Richard Moorhead of Cardiff Law School carried out research on the subject for the then-Department of Constitutional Affairs in 2005.
Typically, he says, professional lawyers tend to characterise litigants-in-person as obsessive cranks who clog up the system with petty grievances.
Such plaintiffs may create problems for the legal process, Prof Moorhead says, but they are small in number.
The bigger issue, he believes, is the lack of support and assistance offered to them in an adversarial system in which the judge relies on both sides putting their cases effectively.
“Emotional distance is a problem for them but the primary problem is is that they don’t know know to put their cases in a technical way,” he says.
“They are terrified, usually. They don’t understand the substantive law, they don’t understand the procedure, they don’t understand the law of evidence.
“It’s a bit like a school pupil going before the headmaster, and the court process and procedures aren’t well-developed to help them.”
Few of us would welcome the opportunity. But if the Judges’ Council is right, more and more Britons could be about to get their day in court.
There seems to be an emphasis on winning or losing. Surely in terms of public expenditure the question is “how long does it take?”. We are about to waste millions of pounds over the next few years because cases are going to take far longer and even where the legal costs are ignored, the court’s time is financed by the tax-payer.
24. Matthew
Thanks for your response Ian. But I’m not sure how be being a law student makes me a ‘vested interest’. I think you’ll find society itself has a vested interest in maintaining the legal profession.The point remains that everyone needs lawyers. If we didn’t, lawyers simply wouldn’t exist. I’m not sure what you were trying to say or what point you were trying to make.Maybe you need a lawyer?
23. WEAPONS AMNESTY 2012
I am not a trained lawyer but have represented myself in 6 cases against lawyers and barristers and won all 6. I also acted in 8 cases in the past 3 years as a A McKenzie friend where you canhelp others whilst not being qualified and all those cases were won.I did my research and made sure I spoke clearly and concisely and put the points accross.
22. IanS
Re: IanMI was referring to actions in the magistrates court and beyond, not the civil procedure.In magistrates courts etc lay representation is not allowed.
21. IanM
The comment from Ian S is a good example of the point of the article. “Lay representatives” (i.e. non-lawyer representatives) are allowed in most court hearings that I have come across. However, you pretty much have to be a lawyer to know that………
Comments 5 of 25
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Three Warwickshire fire service managers will face charges of manslaughter by gross negligence for the deaths of four firefighters.
Ian Reid, John Averis, Ashley Stephens and Darren Yates-Badley died in a warehouse fire in Atherstone-on-Stour in November 2007.
Warwickshire County Council will also face a charge of failing to ensure the health and safety at work of its employees.
The defendants will appear at Leamington Spa Magistrates’ Court on 1 April.
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Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will face no action from the Football Association after appearing to elbow Wigan midfielder James McCarthy on Saturday.
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New Zealand’s prime minister has launched an international appeal following last week’s earthquake in Christchurch which left 148 people dead.
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