Michael Sams kidnap victim Stephanie Slater dies following short battle with cancer
An estate agent who famously survived eight days locked in a box after being kidnapped by crazed killer Michael Sams in 1992 has died of cancer. Michael Sams Stephanie Slater, 50, was held in a cramped wooden coffin for over a week after she was taken captive by the convicted murderer at the age of 25. She was snatched and held at knifepoint by one-legged Sams who pretended to be a potential buyer of an empty property in Great Barr,...
Barber cuts OAPs hair OUTSIDE as mobility scooter won’t fit inside
A devoted barber chose to give his one-legged client a fresh trim OUTSIDE - because his mobility scooter wouldn't fit inside the shop. Kieran Worthington, 28, moved his clippers and scissors outside to give Billy, whose in his 70s, a short back and sides in the reflection of the shop window. The barber realised that poor Billy didn't have crutches and his mobility scooter only had 'one speed' fast setting. It meant that the scooter couldn't be navigated inside...
Man appears in court charged with with murdering a mum and son in multiple stabbing
A homeless man has appeared in court charged with killing a mum and her teenage son during a triple stabbing. Aaron Barley, 23, is accused of murdering Tracey Wilkinson, 50, and her son Pierce, 13, at their detached family home. Businessman Peter Wilkinson, 47, was also knifed six times at the £600,000 property in Stourbridge, West Mids, on March 30, but survived the brutal attack. He was discharged after two weeks in hospital and has since spoken of the agony...
Thug killed a grandfather with single punch following a petty pub row jailed for six years
A thug who killed a grandfather with a single punch following a petty pub row has been jailed for six years. Ashley Lawman, 25, got into a row with 60-year-old John Olver after exchanging no more than five words. They took their disagreement outside, where Lawman felled the grandfather-of-seven with a single blow before telling bystanders: "He started on me". He pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Plymouth Crown Court in Devon, where relatives of Mr Olver said their family had...
police officer who worked as part of a child protection team has been jailed
A former police officer who worked as part of a child protection team has been jailed after being caught with indecent images of children for the second time in a year. Robert Branney, 71, who served in the police for 28 years, was initially caught last year after he went on internet chatrooms with other paedophiles. He was given an eight-month suspended sentence in May 2016 for possessing indecent images on his laptop, many in the most severe category. Now...
Woman loses six stone and ‘looks ten years younger’ thanks to extreme diet 95 per cent fruit based
A legal secretary lost almost six stone and claims she looks a decade younger thanks to a diet which sees her eat 95 per cent FRUIT. Fresh-faced Rebecca Rosenberg also says she has banished her lifelong acne problem and cured herself of MS since becoming a fruitarian. The 33-year-old munches on ten peaches, oranges or apples, a family-size bag of grapes or an entire watermelon in a single sitting. She guzzles 1.5 gallon smoothies, devours ginormous salads and gets through...
Pregnant mum creates a buzz with maternity photos – which show 20,000 BEES swarming around baby bump
A pregnant mum has created a buzz after posing for maternity photos - with 20,000 BEES swarming around her baby bump. Brave Emily Mueller got the honeybees to settle on her stomach by holding the queen bee in a cage in her hand. The 33-year-old is a full-time beekeeper who keeps 24 hives containing around 1.2 millions bees and says she’s been stung a whopping 350 times this year alone. But she said she wasn’t scared about having the photos...
Forgotten Film Friday: The Steel Helmet
By Michael McNulty Released in 1951, Samuel Fuller’s The Steel Helmet was the first Korean War film ever made. Fuller’s third feature, made on a budget of roughly $ 100,000, was a smash hit with audiences and grossed over $ 2 million at the box office. Many a great war film owes a credit to The Steel Helmet. In the wake of World War Two, Hollywood churned out films where conflict was easily defined and compartmentalised into good vs. evil. ...
MPs reporting their own constituents to immigration enforcement
MPs are reporting their own constituents to immigration enforcement using a new Home Office hotline and webpage. A Freedom of Information request submitted by Politics.co.uk has revealed that the Home Office has received 482 tip-offs from MPs between 2014 and 2016, raising the possibility that MPs are reporting their own constituents to the authorities when they have come to them for help. The news comes after London mayor Sadiq Khan said police officers were "duty bound" to report both victims and witnesses of crime...