Criminology and Psychology

GERRIE Lawrie travelled to America to commemorate the death of her idol, but yesterday friends and family were mourning her death after the Scottish mother's body was found in a rented apartment in Memphis. Ms Lawrie, from Aberdeen, was one of hundreds of Elvis Presley fans who converged on the city in Tennessee last week to mark the anniversary of the King's death on 16 August. It was her sixth visit to the annual Elvis Week, also known as Death Week,where Presley devotees hold a candlelit vigil at his former home, Graceland. Ms Lawrie, 40, who travelled alone, was staying at a condo in Denmark Drive in the city centre. She picked up a hire car on arrival and was last seen by friends on 15 August. She was reported missing on Saturday when she failed to arrive home. Yesterday, police in Memphis confirmed that a body found inside the condo building near where Ms Lawrie was last seen was that of the missing mother. Officers believe she took her own life. They are waiting for...

A 16-year-old boy who admitted inciting thefts and criminal damage during the riots has been identified after a court lifted an order. Johnny Melfah, of Droitwich, Worcestershire, admitted posting comments on a website designed to encourage theft and criminal damage. Worcester Youth Court agreed to the naming of the boy, of Thames Avenue. He has been released on bail until sentencing at the youth court on 14 September. Widespread disorder broke out across England on 8 and 9 August.  

A man had his nose, ears and upper lip badly bitten in a "sickening" attack outside a nightclub in Liverpool, police have said. Officers said the 31-year-old victim lost part of both ears, his upper lip and part of his nose in the assault, which happened outside the Funky Box club in the city centre. The venue has had its alcohol licence suspended by the city council, who were acting on police advice. Describing CCTV footage of the attack, which happened at 6.20am last Saturday, PC Stuart Moore told Liverpool's licensing committee: "It is horrific, sickening, and it is almost barbaric what takes place." Merseyside police said the victim, from the Wavertree area of Liverpool, remained in hospital where he was expected to undergo reconstructive surgery. Laurence Richard McGinn, 28, of Sherry Court, Aigburth, Liverpool, was charged with Section 18 wounding and remanded in custody to appear at the city's crown court in November. Another man, aged 27 and from Tox...

, In a desperate attempt to avoid a heavy jail sentence, Recep Cetin told his lawyer that he stabbed the women after they had attacked him, cutting his hand. A source close to the investigation told the Belfast Telegraph that when Cetin realised that he faced at least two decades in prison if convicted of two murders, he "panicked". The source said: "When he realised he could be convicted of two premeditated murders he panicked. When his lawyer spoke to him he told his lawyer it was self-defence, because the women had attacked him." Cetin has claimed the women brought him to the area where their bodies were later discovered and attacked him. However, Marion's former partner Raymond McGuinness last night rejected Cetin's claims. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, he said: "It's impossible, just impossible. He feigned injury, he was lying outside the villa and when Shannon (Marion's daughter) came up he said that Kathy had been pulled into a trans...

Labour spent £2million every day on a shambolic asylum system which failed to remove hundreds of thousands of bogus claimants, reveals a blistering study. An audit of the last government’s record reveals how officials spent as much as £10billion processing applications as they struggled to cope with a surge in numbers. But only one in four of the 660,000 decisions made on asylum claims between 1997 and 2010 led to the applicant being removed. Police swap: A suspected unlawful entrant to the UK is stopped by police officers Even where the claim was considered to be unfounded, the majority of failed asylum-seekers were not sent home. They are now living here illegally. Last night, immigration minister Damian Green said it was a symptom of the ‘hopeless chaos’ which Labour inflicted on the UK’s border controls. The study by the MigrationWatch think-tank found that 660,000 asylum cases were decided from 1997 to 2010. Some form of humanitarian protection, ...

The 53-year-old, named locally as Philip Hulmes, was hit with electric probes from the police weapon after barricading himself in his house on Tuesday. The incident in Bolton came as an inquiry was launched by the police watchdog into the death of Jacob Michael, 25, who was restrained using pepper spray in Widnes, Merseyside. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is also probing how bodybuilder Dale Burns, 27, died after being Tasered several times at his flat in Cumbria last week. Campaign group Inquest said there had already been five deaths in circumstances that involved police use of force excluding firearms this year - compared with four throughout 2010. Helen Shaw, a spokeswoman for the organisation, said: "For too long there has been a pattern of cases where inquest juries have found overwhelming evidence of unlawful and excessive use of force or gross neglect yet the police do not seem to have learnt the lessons from these previous deaths. "Whilst we await the ...

‘Well, they didn’t have anything else on’: Jacqui Smith defends use of two prisoners drafted in to paint her £450,000 home Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has defended her use of two day-release prisoners to paint her £450,000 home when they should have been doing community work.  Prison bosses have now launched an investigation into how the pair, who were working for free as part of a back-to-work scheme and were meant to be improving parks and clearing up rubbish-strewn streams, instead ended up spending two days redecorating a room in Miss Smith’s house last month. Speaking on an LBC radio programme, she was guest presenting, Miss Smith said she wanted 'to set the record a little bit straight' and insisted the prisoners 'didn't have anything else on'. It also emerged that, as payment for the work, Miss Smith donated an unspecified amount to a local charity which organised the project, the Batchley Support Group.  Miss Smith stepped dow...

Federal, state and local law enforcement officers raided 40 addresses around Riverside Wednesday, arresting 20 people with ties to a street gang blamed for violence on the city's eastside, authorities said. The “Operation Tampa Bay” raid targeted the 1200 Blocc Crips, according to Riverside police Lt. Guy Toussaint. He said the arrests stemmed from drug, weapons and parole violations. A total of 36 arrest warrants, 19 state search warrants and 21 probation and parole searches were handled by Riverside police, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation; Corona police; the Riverside County Gang Task Force; and other agencies. “Today's operation should serve as reassurance to our law-abiding community and a cause of worry for criminals in the city of Riverside,” said police Chief Sergio Diaz. “The Riverside Police Department will continue to partner with our colleag...

The figures include two boys of 17 and a man of 18 arrested over an arson attack which destroyed a Sony warehouse in Enfield, north London, on Monday. Two other boys aged 17 were arrested over looting in Sloane Square and Pimlico, also on Monday night. Up to 16,000 officers were on duty across the capital on Wednesday night. 'Huge drain' It was a relatively calm night, with the exception of an incident in Eltham, south-east London, where officers were pelted with missiles by a group of people. Officers rounded up about 150 men. The Met said the group had been dispersed by 22:00 BST. Some local residents were out on the streets claiming to be defending the area from rioters. The number of police officers across the capital was increased from 6,000 to 16,000 on Tuesday after the violence escalated on Monday. The increased number of officers will be out in London for a third night before the deployment is reviewed, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said. He said: ...

Detectives have until midday to question a man over the murder of three men killed in an apparent hit-and-run during rioting in Birmingham. Haroon Jahan, 21, was killed alongside Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, after being hit by a car in Winson Green, Birmingham, as they tried to protect a petrol station and nearby stores, on Tuesday night. West Midlands Police said that detectives have until midday to question a 32-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder, after they were granted a superintendent's extension. On Wednesday night, hundreds of mourners gathered for a candlelit vigil close to the scene of where the three friends were killed. Mr Jahan's father Tariq Jahan appealed for calm in the wake of the death of his son and two friends. He also called for there to be no revenge for his son's death and for the law to be allowed to take its course. "Tensions are already high in the area. It's already bad enough what we are seeing on the streets now witho...

On Wednesday, courts in London began working through the night in order to process the unprecedented number of people charged. Thursday will see proceedings take place in Westminster, Birmingham and Manchester. Defendants range from a 11-year-old boy - charged for stealing a bin from Debenhams - to men in their 40s. The 11-year-old, from Romford, is one of a minority who have been sent home on bail. Sky's Lia Hervey described the judge at Croydon Magistrates Court on Wednesday as being extremely unforgiving, denying most defendants bail in favour remaining in custody or being electronically tagged. Laura Johnson, 19, appeared at Bexleyheath Magistrates Court charged in connection with the theft of £5,000-worth of goods from a Comet store in Charlton, south London. Miss Johnson, an English and Italian student at the University of Exeter, is the daughter of successful businessman Robert Johnson, a director of a several high-profile companies. Aaron Mulholland, a 30-year-old lifegua...

A schoolboy suspected of shooting a man in a potentially murderous attack has been remanded in custody for his own protection amid police concern that a violent feud within the Travelling community could escalate. There was a heavy police presence outside Lisburn courthouse yesterday as the 14-year-old appeared before the city's Magistrates Court charged with attempted murder following a gun attack on a man in the Lagmore area of west Belfast on Monday. The 34-year-old was shot in the ankle when four men burst into his caravan at Hazel View. Police told the court they believe the person who fired a shot during the attack, and who was wearing a balaclava, was the 14-year-old boy. His solicitor told the court, however, the description of the gunman did not fit that of the boy. Thomas Dundon (49), from the Hazelbank area, was also charged with attempted murder and remanded in custody. Both of the accused have been further charged with criminal damage and possession of an offensive wea...