South African police have ‘lost’ 500 guns

As many as 500 service pistols have been ‘lost’ over the past three financial years by South African Police Service (SAPS) officials who were allowed to take their firearms home, claims civil rights organisation AfriForum.

An additional 10,765 rounds of ammunition were also ‘lost’ by officials while they were off duty, AfriForum said.

This information was confirmed by Police Minister Bheki Cele in response to written parliamentary questions, it said.

This – whether in addition to or as part of the 9,5 million rounds of ammunition and 4,357 firearms otherwise lost by SAPS over the past six financial years – is a clear indication that the police is incapable of looking after the firearms already in its care.

https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/350045/south-african-police-have-lost-500-guns/

South Africa: Prison inmates escape, aided by gunmen

A group of six prisoners escaped from a police van in South Africa on Friday after it was attacked by armed gunmen. The van was heading to a court in the suburbs of Johannesburg, police said, as they launched a manhunt for them.

"The police have launched a manhunt after six detainees escaped. The detainees escaped on their way to the Vosloorus courthouse," the police said in a statement, about 30km southeast of the capital.

The van was ambushed at a crossroads "by three armed men" driving a luxury car.

According to the police, five of the inmates who escaped are Zimbabweans who were due to be arraigned in the morning on charges of armed robbery, attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

The sixth man, a South African, was due to appear in court for the first time for shoplifting.

https://www.africanews.com/2022/01/14/south-africa-prison-inmates-escape-aided-by-gunmen/

 

Tourist marvel defaced by vandals

Sicily’s iconic Scala dei Turchi cliffs have been plastered with red dye

FILE PHOTO: Sicily’s iconic Scala dei Turchi cliffs. ©  Global Look Press / Alexander Poeschel

An investigation has been launched by the Italian police after a popular Sicilian tourist site – the white cliffs of Scala dei Turchi – has been defaced by unknown vandals who covered it with red dye.

Scala dei Turchi – or the ‘Turkish steps’ – is one of the most popular attractions in Sicily, visited by tourists from both Italy and abroad. The site also features prominently in the ‘Inspector Montalbano’ book series by the late Italian author Andrea Camilleri, and an Italian TV series of the same name.

The white limestone cliffs, formed in a shape of a staircase, hence its name, were once a hiding place for Mediterranean pirates. Yet the cliffs, put forward as a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status, were plastered with red dye during the night of Friday, January 7.

The local police department launched a probe into the incident and law enforcement specialists managed to find out that the red dye was a red iron oxide powder mixed with water, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported. The police are now looking through surveillance camera images from local shops to potentially identify people who might have bought the substance in question recently.

The incident provoked a wave of outrage from both politicians and locals. President of Sicily Nello Musumeci condemned “the perpetrators of this cowardly act,” who “shamefully defaced” the cliffs.

People on social media also spared no words as they slammed the perpetrators, whom they described as “ignorant troglodytes” who committed a “criminal” and “ignoble” act. Others said they were “furious” and called the incident a “huge shame.”

On the bright side, people also voiced their support for the local volunteers who began the clean-up. The damage appears not to be permanent, since the lower part of the cliffs had been cleaned by the sea waves.

Vandalism appears not to be the only problem at the site, since it is also affected by natural erosion and a huge number of tourists who do not shy away from stealing pieces of the rock.

https://www.rt.com/news/545568-sicily-italy-tourist-marvel-vandals/

 

Deliveryman Distracts, Shoots Two Armed Robbers

A deliveryman in Philadelphia’s Mayfair neighborhood shot two alleged armed robbers Saturday after distracting them by telling them the money was in his car.

WPVI reports that the deliveryman had dropped off something at his own home at approximately 12:15 a.m. Saturday when alleged “armed teens” confronted him and demanded his money.

The deliveryman told them he kept the money in the car, and the teens turned their attention to the vehicle. As they did, the deliveryman pulled his own gun and opened fire, shooting two of them.

A third teen fled the scene.

NBC 10 notes that the two wounded teens were taken to the hospital and listed as critical.

The deliveryman is a concealed carry permit holder.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/11/20/deliveryman-distracts-shoots-two-armed-robbers/

WATCH: Suspect Allegedly Throws Molotov Cocktail into Brooklyn Deli, Alleged Suspect Arrested

FDNY

NICK GILBERTSON

1 Nov 2021

New York City fire marshals have arrested a suspect in connection to an alleged arson involving a Molotov cocktail in Brooklyn on October 30.

The incident occurred at NR Rock Deli in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area in Brooklyn, according to the New York Post.

The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) responded to a 7:53 a.m. call regarding the fire and once on scene, the firefighters quickly brought the situation under control, the FDNY stated in a Facebook post.

Fire marshals arrested alleged suspect Joel Mangal, 38, in connection with the alleged arson, according to the department.

Joel Mangal allegedly threw the Molotov cocktail after getting into a dispute with a staff member at the deli. (FDNY)

FDNY and law enforcement sources say the alleged suspect had an argument with staff, according to the Post.

Surveillance footage from inside the building allegedly shows the incendiary device flying through the door before landing in the corner of the deli area. The alleged Molotov cocktail burst on impact, sending flames over the deli counter’s glass and some surrounding shelves.

Footage from outside of the deli, which the FDNY obtained, allegedly shows the arsonist lighting the first Molotov cocktail and hurling it into the building as two on-lookers jump back in shock. The video allegedly shows the suspect going for a second cocktail and setting it ablaze. As the suspect allegedly prepares to throw the device, a good Samaritan whacks it out of the suspect’s hand. The incendiary device then hit the sidewalk, bursting into flames, the video allegedly shows.

Two deli workers ran out of the store following the alleged attack, and one was treated for injuries that were non-life-threatening, authorities said,  according to the New York Post.

The FDNY provided comments on the incident from the city’s Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro in the department’s Facebook post:

Fortunately, there was no loss of life here. The investigative work from the Explosives and Arson Task Force comprised of our Fire Marshals, the NYPD, and ATF, led to the timely arrest of this suspect who threatened the safety of our communities by using such a cruel and destructive device. FDNY will continue to work alongside local, state and federal partners to bring to justice those who use fire as a weapon against New Yorkers.

Mangal was “charged with Arson, Assault, Reckless Endangerment, Criminal Possession of a Weapon, and Criminal Mischief,” according to the FDNY. Brooklyn’s District Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case. 

https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2021/11/01/watch-suspect-allegedly-throws-molotov-cocktail-brooklyn-deli/

 

Judge Jails Teenager Who Made 'Bizarre' Contract With Demon to Minimum of 35 Years Behind Bars

© Photo : Metropolitan Police

In June 2020, Nicole Smallman and her sister Bibaa Henry were stabbed to death as they celebrated Bibaa’s birthday in a park in London. The murders took place during the first coronavirus lockdown, when pubs and restaurants were closed.

A teenager has been jailed for life for murdering two sisters after signing a contract with a demon to “sacrifice” women in return for winning a Mega Millions lottery jackpot.

Sentencing Danyal Hussein, 19, to a minimum term of 35 years, Mrs Justice Whipple said the teenager's motivation was "bizarre", but she told him: "You planned these vicious attacks, you intended to kill, you did it for money and in misguided pursuit of power."

Hussein, from Blackheath, south London, was convicted in July of murdering Nicole Smallman, 27, a hospitality industry worker, and her sister Bibaa Henry, 46, a social worker, in Fryent Country Park in northwest London in the early hours of 6 June last year.

Danyal Hussein arrives at the police station after his arrest on 1 July 2020

© Photo : Metropolitan Police

Judge Whipple said: "You had found these two women. You were a stranger to them. You surprised them. You terrified them. You killed them."to Abolish Racist Language

 Hussein refused to engage with a psychiatrist, Dr Ian Cumming, but thecourt heard there was no evidence he was mentally ill, although he did have autistic spectrum disorder.

During the sentencing hearing Hussein, appearing on videolink from Belmarsh prison, sat sideways on his chair and stared out of the window.

Afterwards Bibaa and Nicole's mother, Mina Smallman, described it as a "performance" and said: "It was a performance designed to elicit sympathy or to encourage the belief that there's something wrong with him. There's nothing wrong with him. He is just an obnoxious human being."

Earlier, Judge Whipple said of Hussein’s contract with a demon: “Bizarre though that may be as a belief system...it is not in itself proof he is mad...it's just the way he thinks”.

When police searched Hussein’s bedroom, they found a handwritten contract with a demon called Lucifuge Rofocale.

Hussein, who signed the "agreement" in his own blood, wrote: “For the Mighty King Lucifuge Rofocale: Perform a minimum of six sacrifices every six months for as long as I am free and physically capable”.

This "contract" was found in Danyal Hussein's bedroom after the murders

© Photo : Metropolitan Police

It went on: "Sacrifice only women, build a temple for you, do everything that I have promised".

As part of the deal, Hussein wrote that he expected to win the “Mega Millions Super Jackpot” and “never be suspected of any crimes by the police”.

Detective Inspector Maria Green said: “Danyal Hussein is a dangerous, arrogant and violent individual who from the outset has shown no remorse or acceptance of his actions."

The killings took place during the first lockdown and, with pubs and restaurants closed, the sisters chose to celebrate Bibaa’s birthday in the park with a group of around 10 friends.

They were “brutally” stabbed to death in the early hours of 6 June 2020 after their friends had left and the pair danced and played with lights in the darkness.

The killer concealed both bodies in the undergrowth and was caught on a neighbour’s CCTV camera returning to his father’s home nearby around 4 a.m.

Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman

© Photo : Metropolitan Police

Earlier this week, a report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct found the level of service the police provided over the weekend the sisters went missing was below the standard it should have been, but ruled out any racial bias or actual misconduct.

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, who is already under pressure to resign following the conviction of murdering police officer Wayne Couzens, has tried to apologise to the family.

Cressida Dick said: “The way we responded to information that Nicole and Bibaa were missing that weekend was below the standard we should have achieved and compounded the distress felt by their loved ones”.

She added: “We have contacted the family to ask if they will allow me or, if they prefer, another senior officer to visit them at a time that is right to apologise in person”.

But Nicole and Bibaa’s mother, Mina Smallman, rejected the apology.

She said: “Sorry is something you say when you comprehend the wrong you do and take full responsibility for it, demonstrating that by taking appropriate, proportionate action, which to our minds is not going to happen”.

“The investigation was not handled appropriately. The apology should have been done face to face and not nearly 10 months later”, Mrs Smallman added.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC, in his closing speech, told jurors: “Given the weight of the evidence against him, only someone who actually believes that an agreement with a demon will work could refuse to accept any aspect of the case against him”.

“Perhaps he still believes that Lucifuge Rofocale will come to his aid, but unfortunately for the defendant, there are no deals to be had in these courts and the devil (if he is anywhere) is in the detail”, he added.

Hussein, who did not give evidence, claimed he was not the person shown knocking on the door of his father’s home and being let in and claimed it was not him who bought a set of knives in a supermarket a few days before the murders.

https://sputniknews.com/20211028/judge-jails-teenager-who-made-bizarre-contract-with-demon-to-minimum-of-35-years-behind-bars-1090274147.html

 

German Nazi war crimes suspect, 96, faces court

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/19/german-nazi-war-crimes-suspect-96-faces-court-indictment

Irmgard Furchner is accused of having contributed to the murder of 11,412 people at the Stutthof concentration camp between 1943-1945.

Furchner is the latest nonagenarian charged with Holocaust crimes in what is seen as a rush by prosecutors to seize the final opportunity to enact justice [Christian Charisius/Pool via Reuters]

Published On 19 Oct 2021

A 96-year-old former Nazi concentration camp secretary appeared before a German court on Tuesday on charges of committing war crimes during World War II, weeks after she fled from an earlier hearing.

Irmgard Furchner tried to skip the start of her trial at the end of September but was later picked up by police and placed in detention for several days.

On Tuesday, she appeared before the court in the northern town of Itzehoe, near Hamburg.

Furchner, accused of having contributed as an 18-year-old to the murder of 11,412 people when she was a typist at the Stutthof concentration camp between 1943-45, was taken into the sparse courtroom in a wheelchair.

Her face was barely visible behind a white mask and scarf pulled low over her eyes. Security was heavy as the judge and legal staff made their way into the court.

Between 1939 and 1945, about 65,000 people died of starvation and disease or in the gas chamber at the Stutthof death camp near Gdansk, in today’s Poland. They included prisoners of war and Jews caught up in the Nazis’ extermination campaign.

Prosecutors have argued Furchner worked in the office of camp commander Paul Werner Hoppe, taking dictation of the SS officer’s orders and handling his correspondence.

Public prosecutor Maxi Wantzen said her clerical work at Stutthof “assured the smooth running of the camp” and gave her “knowledge of all occurrences and events at Stutthof”, including mass killings.

Furchner is being tried in juvenile court because she was under 21 at the time. She did not respond to the allegations levelled against her on Tuesday. The trial is scheduled to continue on October 26.

Furchner is the latest nonagenarian to have been charged with Holocaust crimes in what is seen as a rush by prosecutors to seize the final opportunity to enact justice for the victims of some of the worst mass killings in history.

Although prosecutors convicted major perpetrators – those who issued orders or pulled triggers – in the 1960s “Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials”, the practice until the 2000s was to leave lower-level suspects alone.