Plane Diverts To Stansted: Pair Arrested

Two men have been arrested after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Stansted Airport.

The Sri Lankan Airlines A330 Airbus, which was carrying 267 passengers and crew, was due to land at Heathrow Airport but was diverted to the Essex airport just after 7.30pm on Friday.

Officers boarded the plane and arrested the pair on suspicion of endangering an aircraft, Essex Police said.

A spokesman for the force said: "The passengers have been removed safely and inquiries are ongoing."

The remaining passengers are being looked after at a reception centre at Stansted and are due to be transferred to Heathrow later this morning.

A spokesman for Stansted said last night: "Stansted Airport can confirm a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A330 diverted into Stansted at approximately 19.30 this evening.

"The aircraft, which was flying from Columbo to Heathrow, landed safely with Essex Police in attendance.

"The airport is open and flights are arriving and departing as normal."

In May this year, two men were arrested on board a plane from Pakistan carrying 297 passengers that was intercepted and diverted to Stansted by RAF typhoon jets.

Police later said the incident in May was being treated as criminal rather than terrorism-related.

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Online Daters 'Need Protection' From Stalkers

By Adele Robinson, Sky News Correspondent

Online dating sites are not doing enough to protect women from being targeted by stalkers and violent men, according to an anti-stalking charity.

Paladin, which was set up two months ago, says it has been contacted by people who have been abused by men after meeting them on the internet.

Lack of regulation has meant those with a violent past have been able to join dating sites.

But a new code of conduct and a kitemarking system is to be introduced to the industry to help boost client confidence.

Laura Richards, from Paladin, is urging more websites to join up to the code.

She said: "I think there's a lot of them that are not taking it seriously enough, currently, and certainly with regards to stalking and other serious offences that may be committed by predatory individuals who are using these sites because they know that there are a pool of victims for them to fish within.

"I think the code of practice is definitely a step forward that the public know there is a standard that has to be met."

Sarah, not her real name, met her former boyfriend on a dating website but was unaware he had two previous convictions for violence.

She said: "He threatened me, followed me, made unwanted contact with me, it was extremely terrifying.

"When I finally left the relationship the harassment continued in an email sense."

Her ex-boyfriend was eventually convicted but Sarah said there was no interest when she initially tried to contact the dating website.

"They supposedly had buttons on there to report an abuser, block an abuser but they are not easy to find, and they generate these automatic responses.

"There was no help or assistance available at a time when I was completely frustrated and panicking about the whole situation."

Recent YouGov surveys show one in five relationships in the UK begin online with around nine million people using dating websites in total.

Figures from consumer website Which? reveal that two in five people using dating sites have discovered fake profiles.

So far 13 online dating sites have signed up to the new Online Dating Association including eHarmony, The Dating Lab, Oasis, Match, My Single Friend, Guardian Soulmates, Love and Friends, Dating Factory, Christian Connection, Muddy Matches, Lovestruck, FreeDating and The Single Solution.

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India: Briton 'Trampled By Elephant' Dies

A British national has died after reportedly being trampled to death by an elephant in India.

The man, who has not been named, died at the Masinagudi National Park, in the state of Tamil Nadu.

There are conflicting reports about the moments leading up to the man's death.

He was killed after failing to hear guides and other tourists shout warnings to him as the elephant approached during a trek, it was reported.

Other accounts claimed the man was engrossed in his photography and did not hear two other elephants charge at him from behind.

An inspector at Masinagudi police station told the Times of India that officers had not yet inspected the area where the man was killed.

He said: "We will be able to ascertain whether the place is a reserve forest area or social forestry area only after we inspect the spot where the unfortunate incident happened.

"We will inspect the place overnight and will register a case accordingly."

Local guides sought help from the nearby Sagadevan resort, where the man - reported to be 67 years old and who had flown to the country from London - was staying.

He was treated at the local Masinagudi hospital before being transferred to Gudalur Government Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead, The Times reported.

The Foreign Office confirmed the death, saying: "We are aware of the tragic death of a British national in southern India and we are providing consular assistance at this difficult time."

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Barclays Cyber Theft: Arrests After £1.3m Stolen

Eight men have been arrested after a gang stole more than £1m from a high street bank by taking control of one of its computers.

The money was stolen from a Barclays branch in Swiss Cottage, London, earlier this year, using a device known as a "keyboard, video and mouse" (KVM) switch.

The hardware, which can be purchased online for as little as £10, allowed the gang to transmit the contents of the computer's desktop and take control of the machine remotely.

It is believed the device was installed by a man who pretended to be an IT engineer to gain access to the branch.

A KVM device similar to the one used to steal money from Barclays accounts

Some £1.3m was withdrawn from accounts, although much of the money has since been recovered.

The men, aged between 24 and 47, are currently in custody at various police stations in London.

Detective Inspector Mark Raymond, of the Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit, said: "Those responsible for this offence are significant players within a sophisticated and determined organised criminal network, who used considerable technical abilities and traditional criminal know-how to infiltrate and exploit secure banking systems."

The arrests come after four men appeared in court accused of a failed attempt to take control of computers at a Santander branch in southeast London, again using a KVM device.

Police said they foiled a "very significant and audacious cyber-enabled offence" that would have cost the bank millions of pounds. 

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Police Back Private 'Drunk Tanks' For Revellers

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

Police chiefs have backed privately-run drunk tanks where intoxicated revellers are kept overnight and made to pay for their stay.

Chief Constable Adrian Lee, the national policing lead on alcohol harm, said drunken individuals should be held in "welfare centres" run by a commercial company.

Mr Lee, head of Northamptonshire Police, told Sky News' Sunrise programme how the system might work.

He said: "The cost of policing for arresting and taking positive action for people who are drunk and disorderly and bringing them into custody cells is significant and not necessarily the best place for people who are drunk to be.

"We would arrest them, they would go to a welfare centre and when they were sober the police would return to deal with the criminality of their behaviour and there might well be a bill to pay.

"I think the impact of that would be a deterrent effect on people who choose to go out and get so drunk that they're incapable of looking after themselves."

At the launch of a week-long campaign aimed at highlighting alcohol harm, Mr Lee also criticised the Government for failing to implement minimum pricing for a unit of alcohol in England and Wales.

Police officers have called for binge drinkers to be billed for their care

Sir Peter Fahy, vice president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), said binge-drinking was putting a massive strain on police and health services.

"Cheap drink and later opening hours only adds to the problem," he said.

The drunk tank idea came as it emerged that bouncers in pubs and clubs across the UK will be trained to protect people who are too drunk to look after themselves.

The Home Office has told the Security Industry Authority to teach all 100,000 licensed door-staff how to prevent "vulnerable" people from coming to harm.

Bouncers, who must be trained by the SIA to work in licensed premises, will be given a checklist of actions.

These include reuniting people with friends, helping them get a taxi home and, as a last resort, calling the police.

On the streets of Newcastle, where the new training for bouncers was developed, late-night drinkers admitted they "pre-loaded" with cheap booze before coming out.

Police say they should not be responsible for dealing with drunks overnight

At 11pm, 34-year-old Donna Davison showed Sky News a half-litre bottle of vodka she had brought from home to top up her glass during the night.

She said: "I bought (a bigger bottle) at the corner shop, filled it up and brought it with us."

Her friend Marie Thompson, 40, who claimed to have drunk a litre of vodka before arriving in the city centre at 9pm, described drink prices in clubs as "extortionate".

She said: "People on poverty who've got kids, it's not fair really, because they charge £6 for one single drink.

"We like to go out and have a good night, that's why we bring our own, it's cheaper."

Acting Superintendent Bruce Storey, from Northumbria Police, said the new training for bouncers had helped reduce crime in Newcastle since being introduced earlier in the year.

He said: "If people have had too much to drink, quite clearly their inhibitions go, their ability to be aware of their surroundings tends to be diminished and the consequences of that are obvious."

Bouncer Chris Woodcock described the training as a form of customer service.

He said: "It's being aware of vulnerable people and making sure that everyone has a good night and they get to go home safely."

But his colleague Paul Faetz, 50, who has 32 years working on the doors in Newcastle, says binge-drinkers have made the job unbearable and he is retiring.

He said: "It's been over the last five years (that) people have become more and more heavy drinkers.

"I don't really want to be around that. Now with drugs and drink, it's not a nice place to work."

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Syria: New Evidence 'Implicates Rebels'

Syria has new materials which it claims implicate rebels in the country's chemical attack, says a senior Russian minister.

According to Russian news agencies, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said: "The corresponding materials were handed to the Russian side.

"We were told that they were evidence that the rebels are implicated in the chemical attack."

Mr Ryabkov also said Russia was disappointed with the United Nations report into the attack.

"Without a full picture ... we cannot describe the character of the conclusions as anything other than politicised, biased and one-sided," he said.

Mr Ryabkov was talking after meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem in Damascus.

The UN report into the August 21 attack, which was published earlier this week, said chemical weapons had been used on a "relatively large scale" - but did not lay any blame for the atrocity.

However, photographs taken by the inspectors appeared to show possible Cyrillic, or Russian, engravings on one of the rocket casings.

Rockets tested at the attack site in Damascus were found to contain sarin, while the area in which they landed was contaminated with the deadly gas.

Blood and urine samples taken from patients injured in the attack tested positive for sarin, while survivors said they had experienced symptoms including loss of consciousness, shortness of breath and blurred vision, all of which are consistent with intoxication.

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Washington Gunman Alexis 'Had 9/11 PTSD'

US Deadliest Shootings

Updated: 10:49pm UK, Monday 16 September 2013

The shooting at the Washington navy yard has been described by Barack Obama as "yet another mass shooting". It is part of a grim list in modern US history.

:: Sandy Hook, Connecticut, December 14, 2012:

Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before opening fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults. He then turned the gun on himself.

It is the worst school shooting in America's history and second only to the Virginia Tech massacre in terms of the country's deadliest ever attacks.

Both attacks make up a grim history of mass murders using firearms in the US.

:: Aurora, Colorado, July 20, 2012:

A masked gunman burst in on the Century 16 cinema during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises throwing tear gas before opening fire.

He killed 12 and injured 58. James Eagan Holmes, 24, is the sole suspect and was arrested at the scene. He will appear in court in January.

:: Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas, November 5, 2009:

A 42-year-old US Army Major, serving as a psychiatrist, opened fire inside the US military base killing 13 and wounding 29 in an attack deemed an act of terrorism. Hasan was shot and captured and is paralysed from the waist down.

Before the killing he had been in touch with the late al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki to ask whether he would be considered a martyr if he died shooting US soldiers.

:: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007:

Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 and injured 17 in America's deadliest shooting. He launched two separate attacks at the campus two hours apart before killing himself.

Cho had a history of mental illness and was in therapy through his school years.

:: Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2006:

Charles Carl Roberts shot dead five and injured five in an attack at an Amish school. The 32-year-old dish washer at a local restaurant then killed himself.

He was driven by anger at God over the death of his premature daughter.

:: Red Lake Indian Reservation, March 21, 2005:

Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and grandfather's companion before opening fire at Red Lake High School. He killed nine and injured seven, then took his own life.

He blamed years of school bullying for the attack.

:: Forth Worth, Sept 25, 1999:

Unemployed white supremacist Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire on the congregation of Wedgwood Baptist Church, killing seven and wounding seven. He then turned the gun on himself.

Ashbrook, 47, was a member of a group that advocated killing minorities.

:: Atlanta, July 29, 1999:

Mark Orrin Barton, a trader, opened fire in two investment offices killing nine and wounding 12. He killed himself after a six-hour police manhunt.

The 44-year-old had been upset by big financial losses.

:: Columbine High School, Colorado, April 20, 1999:

Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire on schoolmates after bombs they had planted in the cafeteria failed to go off. They killed 13 and injured 21 before killing themselves.

The students were motivated by their anger at society. Harris had a history of depression.

:: McDonald's, San Ysidro, California, July 18 1984:

Welder James Huberty walked into a McDonald's and opened fire killing 21 people and wounding 19 before being shot by a police sniper.

The 51-year-old thought society was about to collapse. When asked where he was going as he left the house for the killing, he told his wife: "hunting humans".

:: University of Texas, Austin, August 1, 1966:

Engineering student Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, opened fire on students from the 28th floor of the main campus building. He killed 13 and wounded 32 before being shot dead by a police marksman. He also killed his wife and mother.

In a note he said he was suffering irrational thoughts and wanted to relieve his wife and mother from suffering but offered no explanation for the university attack.

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