Belfast rape: Man jailed for five years for raping schoolgirl

A failed asylum seeker killed an 88-year-old woman he described as his "surrogate grandmother" at her home in North Yorkshire, a court has heard. The body of Brenda Blainey was found at the property on High Street in Thornton-le-Dale on 5 January 2022. Leeds Crown Court heard Shahin Darvish-Narenjbon had...

An Indian court has sentenced a self-styled spiritual guru to life imprisonment for raping one of his devotees. Asaram was found guilty of assaulting the woman several times between 2001 and 2006 at his ashram in the western state of Gujarat. The 81-year-old is currently serving a life sentence after...

A man who was shot dead in Lurgan is believed to have been the victim of a feud involving drugs debts, a court has heard. The claim was made during a bail application by Joshua Cotter, one of three men charged with the murder of Shane Whitla. The 39-year-old was...

Two men have been given life sentences for strangling a businesswoman after a £4.6m plan to "plunder" her property went wrong. Louise Kam, 71, disappeared in July 2021 and was later found dumped in a rubbish bin. Kusai Al-Jundi, 25, of Harrow, London, and Romanian national Mohamed El-Abboud, 28,...

The welfare of the children is of utmost importance, and as parents, it is our duty to ensure that they are protected and have access to the care they need to grow and thrive. Unfortunately, in some cases, parents do not always provide this level of care and protection. This was the case for a 9-year-old girl who arrived at a local hospital pregnant.

A 12-year-old boy has been left with facial injuries after allegedly being attacked while in a park with friends. Alfie was left "traumatised" after the incident near Cwmgors Rugby Cub, Neath Port Talbot, his mother Sue said. She said Alfie was with friends at the rugby club on Sunday afternoon...

Parents in Germany thought they discovered their daughter's dead body but police say their daughter is a murder suspect in her doppelganger's death.

Warning: This article contains graphic details which some readers may find upsetting. A schoolgirl has told a murder trial that a toddler was killed during a game of hide-and-seek in a house in Dundee. Andrew Innes, 52, admits killing Bennylyn Burke and her two-year-old daughter Jellica but denies murder, claiming...

A woman attacked her brother with a knife and cut off his head while "in the grip of a very serious mental illness", a court has heard. Heaven Belal, 41, is accused of killing her brother Omar Belal in Edmonton in 2021. Psychiatrists agreed that Belal was suffering from delusions...

A man who was physically and mentally abused in a Scottish children's home believes the two men responsible should have got longer prison terms. Matthew George and John Muldoon worked at Kerelaw School in Ayrshire, where they physically and sexually assaulted their victims over three decades. On 13 January the...

A body has been found in the hunt for a Somerset teenager missing for over four months. Freddy, 17, went missing from his family home in Stolford on 20 September. A member of the public found human remains on Steart Marshes near Bridgwater on Monday. Avon and Somerset Police said...

A woman accused of murdering her three-year-old stepson has denied tailoring her account to fit the evidence after she was told she was "twisting and turning" her story. Harvey Borrington was taken to hospital on 7 August 2021 and died two days later from head injuries. His stepmother Leila wept...

Police are investigating the death of patient who was able to walk out of a mental health unit on Christmas Day. Helen Tarry's body was discovered on farmland on Boxing Day morning, a short distance from the Priory Hospital Arnold, Nottinghamshire, where she was being treated on a secure ward.

A man has been jailed for 10 years for killing a 19-year-old woman in a crash. Luke Hawkes, 28, was driving a white Ford Transit van at high speed when it went through a red light and hit two cars on the A38 Taunton Road, near Bridgwater, Somerset, on 8 November.

Four suspected burglars have been arrested after the stolen car they were travelling in crashed into a lamppost. The white VW Scirocco crashed in Heywood after it was taken from Bury on Sunday, Greater Manchester Police said. The occupants fled the scene but were later traced by a police task...

A man who blew off half of his own hands with a pipe bomb has been given a nine-year sentence. Ryan Treanor, 26, from Victoria Gardens in Lurgan, County Armagh, appeared via video-link at Craigavon Crown Court on Tuesday. He entered a guilty plea to one count of possessing an...

A stranger has donated thousands of pounds to a student who thought she might not graduate after being scammed. University of Southampton student Chen, 26, lost £31,000 in 2021 when she was called by fraudsters claiming to be police. She needed £15,000 by the end of January to pay...

Three men have been arrested after police uncovered one of Lincolnshire's biggest ever cannabis farms. Lincolnshire Police said between 5,000 and 6,000 plants were found across 49 rooms at the Old Kings Head Tyre Factory, in Station Road in Boston, on Tuesday morning. The men, aged 28, 38, and 42,...

A 32-year-old man has been re-arrested on suspicion of Natalie McNally's murder. He was previously arrested on 19 December before being released. The man has been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite where he is currently being questioned by detectives. Ms McNally, who was 32, was 15 weeks pregnant when...

The family of a transgender woman who died after nearly three years on an NHS waiting list said her death was caused by the delay in care. Alice Litman, from Brighton, took her own life last May as she waited on a list with more than 11,000 people to discuss her transition.