Paul McGovern police want to quiz the crime boss about a recent stabbing

Paul McGovern police want to quiz the crime boss about a recent stabbing - if they believe he was involved, his life licence may be revoked.McGovern, 35, has not been seen since James Bentley was knifed in Bearsden, Glasgow, two weeks ago. And last night underworld sources insisted McGovern had left the UK.A gangland insider said: "Cops want to speak to Paul about the incident. If he had ANY involvement they'll sling him back behind bars. So he is lying low abroad until the heat dies down."
Bentley, 30, was attacked close to the house he shares with fiancée Pamela, 24, the daughter of former porn baron Russell Stirton (left). The Liverpudlian was seriously injured.McGovern - who was only 16 when he was jailed for life in 1990 for the murder of school janitor Thomas Cushley, 47 - has raked in vast sums from his sprawling criminal empire.His interests also include the security firm M&M.McGovern's sister Jacqueline is married to Stirton, 49, who had more than £5million of assets seized by police in January 2004.The controversial businessman is still waging a legal battle to recover the cash confiscated after a raid at his home in Glasgow's Mugdock suburb.
The same police probe also targeted a McGovern-run pub in the city's Springburn district and a nearby petrol station.Two vanloads of cops seized papers and almost £400,000 in cash. Detectives believed Stirton was "washing" money through his business empire on behalf of the McGovern crime clan.So far, however, their investigation has failed to produce

John McCabe, 47, was arrested Detectives had been tipped off that he was to be targeted by gunmen.

John McCabe, 47, was arrested Detectives had been tipped off that he was to be targeted by gunmen.They feared a bloodbath as McCabe and his Daniel cronies were also aware of the threat and were preparing to retaliate.
One source said: "There was a well-developed plan to target McCabe at a party which was to be attended by most of the Daniel mob.
"He and the Daniels were ready for it. If the party had gone ahead, there could have been carnage with innocent people hurt.
"Hours before it was due to start, McCabe was busted and the cops were able to keep him in custody.
"The party was cancelled but when some guests arrived, armed police were parked outside as a precaution."
The foiled assassination plot came just weeks after the murder of Daniel clan enforcer Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll, 29.
Shoppers fled in terror as a gunman unleashed more than 10 shots at Carroll outside an Asda store in Robroyston, Glasgow.
Police have so far succeeded in preventing revenge attacks on the rival Lyons family who the Daniels blame for Carroll's murder.
Friday night's plot was orchestrated by other enemies of McCabe - not the Lyons.
A police source added: "McCabe has plenty of his own enemies.
"There are many in the criminal underworld who want to take advantage of the Daniels' perceived vulnerability."
McCabe is the prime suspect in the 2000 murder of gangster Frank McPhie in Maryhill, Glasgow.
In what's been described as the most professional underworld hit in Scotland, McPhie, 51, was killed by a sniper from high flats.
McCabe was arrested over the killing but charges were later dropped through lack of evidence.
McPhie had twice walked free from murder charges - in 1997 and 1998 - after juries returned not proven verdicts.
McCabe is due to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court tomorrow on drugs charges.
Daniel family head Jamie, 52, is on remand facing vandalism and breach of the peace charges.
Strathclyde Police said: "A 47-year-old man was arrested in Kelvindale, Glasgow, on Friday and has been detained in connection with alleged drugs offences."

Bloods, Gangster Disciples, Sur-13, Kurdish Pride

Gangs call themselves the Bloods, Gangster Disciples, Sur-13, Kurdish Pride and dozens of other names. Some are chapters of national brands. They recruit in schools and in parks. Girls are joining at increasing rates, and affiliation among whites is on the rise — shattering stereotypes that gangs attract only minorities and boys.
The percentage of Middle Tennessee's crimes caused by gangs is unknown; police don't track it consistently. But authorities say they see enough new activity to know it's on the rise."(Gangs) are at a crucial point evolving into increasingly organized hierarchies with educated leaders," TBI Director Mark Gwyn writes in the TBI report. "The amount of crime that stems from gangs, especially drug sales, is significant."
In a smoke-filled apartment in Jackson, 10 gang members gathered for a meeting. A painting of the Virgin Mary hung on the wall above the leader. He called himself Crazy Joker and said he oversees the Sur-13 gang in Tennessee. Sur-13 is one of the nation's fastest-growing gangs and pledges allegiance to the Mexican Mafia, a Mexican-American criminal organization.
"We're in it to make money," said Crazy Joker, whose real name is Renaldo Garcia.
But on this night the gang met to talk about punishing one of its own.
A rival gang in Williamson County took a shot at a Sur-13 member during a drive-by shooting near the Cool Springs exit on Interstate 65. No one was injured. But a Sur-13 member violated gang rules by not coming to the aid of the fellow member. At stake was a possible beating — between 13 seconds and a minute long — for the errant gangster. The length of the beating depends upon the violation."We're here to talk about violations,'' Garcia said. "We're going to decide what happens to some of our vatos (men) who didn't help a homey.''Members listened and debated, handguns poking from their pants as they drank beer out of cans.At one point, a gang member who had just been released from jail said he wanted to talk about how the gang could make some money. But Garcia kept the conversation focused and said it was important to follow the meeting agenda.

‘Killer Miller' was fatally shot by members of the Joint Task Force (JTF)

major gang leaders of remnants of the Joel Andem Gang in St. Thomas was shot and killed by the police Friday morning.Rupert Wallace otherwise called ‘Killer Miller' was fatally shot by members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Stanton Housing Scheme near Morant Bay in St. A team from the JTF reportedly went to the Stanton Housing Scheme in search of Wallace and his cronies.The security team circled the house where it was believed Wallace was located while other members of the team entered the house. The police say Wallace who was in the house, tried to escape by leaving through a backdoor armed with a Tang Folio 9 mm pistol. The police say in his bid to escape Wallace fired several rounds at the police who returned the fire.
Wallace's alleged gun with three rounds has since been sent to the Forensic Laboratory. Wallace was already convicted for the murder of Sylvia Edwards a gas station operator in St. Andrew in 2000.Following an appeal, the case was ordered retried in 2006 by the Privy Council. According to the police, Wallace was suspected to be involved in several crimes, including murder and extortion.

Terry Smith, 50, was plotting a series of cash-in-transit attacks that netted his gang £172,000.

Terry Smith, 50, who appeared on chat shows and worked as a film consultant capitalising on his criminal expertise, inflicted near fatal injuries on a commuter.While publishing his memoirs and providing commentary on such events as the £53m Securitas raid in 2006, Smith was plotting a series of cash-in-transit attacks that netted his gang £172,000.Chelmsford crown court heard that during one of the raids at Rayleigh railway station a passerby, Adam Mapleson, was blasted in the chest as he rushed to help a female security guard.Mapleson, 26, said he was walking to work in May 2007 when he saw a man carrying the snatched cash box running towards him. Mapleson was shot but survived after the bullet ricocheted off his collar bone, away from a major artery.Smith, from Canvey Island, Essex, was found guilty of conspiracy to rob between 1 September 2006 and 30 April 2008 and conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to commit robberies.Smith told detectives "this is outrageous" when he was arrested at his home at dawn in May 2008. Patricia Lynch QC, prosecuting, told the jury that members of the gang had been seen meeting at the Dick Turpin pub near Basildon, Essex.Smith was asked by his defence counsel, Martin Hicks QC, about his book, which described him as a notorious armed robber. Referring to the exact phrase used in the book, he replied: "I believe the term is infamous armed robber."He said that he had not agreed with how his publishers had promoted the book, saying it had glorified him.He was asked directly by Hicks: "The allegation against you is that you are a serious career armed robber.""That's not true," replied Smith. He said he was a serious crime reporter.After being sentenced to 31 years in prison for armed robberies committed during the 1980s, Smith had claimed that he was going straight. He wrote The Art of Armed Robbery – The True Story of Britain's Most Infamous Armed Robber, published in 2003.The book's cover shows a shaven-headed robber carrying a bag of swag and pointing a handgun at the camera. The publicity material said: "Terence Smith was much more than just another criminal. With a penchant for learning and his sophisticated clean-cut image, his tale is told with a finesse and intelligence. He is now fully reformed."
He was said to be "one of the most daring armed robbers of his generation" and Britain's most wanted criminal, before allegedly giving it all up for his young family – his wife Tracey and children Terence, Bradley, Jade and Sonny.

After being sentenced in June 1983 to 15 years for armed robbery, he escaped in a prison van in November 1984 and spent two years on the run. During his time as a fugitive he conceived his fourth child Sonny and committed more robberies before his arrest in June 1986, when he was given a further 16 years imprisonment at the Old Bailey.Smith was released on parole in 1995 before deciding to go straight. In 2004 he was part of a gang of reformed gangsters who took part in a Channel 4 programme called The Heist where the former crooks successfully kidnapped a £1m racehorse called Lucky Harry.He has also appeared on the Sky programme Inside the Perfect Bank Robbery, on the BBC religious show The Big Question and as a consultant on a Spike Lee film The Insider.
In May 2005 he published another book called Two Strikes and You're Out and gave interviews as a crime pundit during the police investigation into the £53 million Securitas raid in February 2006. He published a third book called Blaggers Inc - Britain's Biggest Armed Robberies.Smith's brother Lenny, 52, a bricklayer from Dagenham, was cleared of charges of conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to commit robberies.

Harminder Thiara, 24, was sentenced to 39 months in prison

Harminder Thiara, 24, was sentenced to 39 months in prison on Friday in provincial court after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including criminal harassment, uttering death threats and attempted obstruction of justice.Crown prosecutor Christian Lim told court Thiara had been dating Alexandra Walters, but the relationship had ended and she had told him numerous times that she “didn’t want to be his significant other.” Lim said Thiara contacted Walters on April 5 and became upset and told her:

“I’m going to spray your home with bullets.” The prosecutor said Walters then told Thiara that she was staying with a friend and the known gangster replied: “That’s OK. I’ll get your cats.’ At the time, court heard Thiara was under a no-contact order prohibiting him from contacting Walters, and Lim said he breached that order, as well as some court orders stemming from a drug charge that specified he was to abide by a curfew and report to a probation officer.

On April 10, Thiara again made contact with Walters and threatened her by
saying: “Do you want to go for a ride? I’ve got a burner on me.” Lim explained Thiara was a known gang member and the term “burner” refers to gangster slang for a firearm.
On the same day, Thiara also offered Walters $10,000 “to call it even,” which Lim said was a bribe so that she would not testify against him.Court heard Thiara was arrested on April 11, but continued to harass Walters with phone calls from prison.
Judge Paul Sully gave Thiara 21 months credit for the 10-and-a-half months he spent in pre-trial custody, leaving him with 18 months left to serve. He was also ordered to submit a DNA sample for the national DNA databank.

Marisa Merico, 40 father is Mafia Don Emilio DiGiovine, who was jailed for 30 years in the early 90s.

Marisa Merico, 40, served 14 months of a 42 month sentence in the late 1990s and returned to the UK shortly after. But Italy wants her to serve more time in Milan after appealing her release.
Her father is Mafia Don Emilio DiGiovine, who was jailed for 30 years in the early 90s. He is now under a witness protection scheme in his homeland after he allegedly gave evidence about the Mafia in exchange for leniency.Since then he has been the target of assassination, and Ms Merico says she cannot return to Milan because her life would be at risk from her gangster dad's enemies.
And were she to be forcibly returned, her two children – one the daughter of another Mafia chief – would be left to fend for themselves, with the son taken into care, she said.In the first day of her extradition hearing at City of Westminster Magistrate's Court, Ms Merico, who lives in Blackpool and has penned an autobiography called 'Mafia Princess', added that there would be no one to look after her cancer-stricken mother if she was extradited.
She said: "After the mistakes I made when I was a young girl of about 18 I wanted to wipe the slate clean and start a new life.
"That's why I came back to the UK. I did things I regret and my involvement with my family, especially my father.
"My mother is very ill and fragile. She has bone cancer and never recovered from a stroke she had a few years ago.
"I am her main carer and there isn't really anyone else to look after her. She needs help with everything."
She added, while crying: "I have to see her every day."
When asked if her ex-husband, Mafia boss Bruno Merico, is involved in the upbringing of her children, she replied: "No."
She continued: "My daughter doesn't even know her dad. He's been in prison since she was about one.
"He is released now but he is not really involved in her upbringing. My son's father died when I was three months pregnant so if I have to go back to Italy my daughter would have to look after my son – or he would be put into foster care.
"It's a big responsibility for her as she is only 18 and has just been offered a place in university. It would have a major impact on her life."
Merico also said her nine year old son suffered from emotional problems because of her arrest warrant and that he was 'below average' at school.
She added: "We are not a close knit family and my mother isn't capable of looking after the children."
The hearing was adjourned until May.

24-year-old man up to late yesterday afternoon was assisting police with investigations in connection with the shooting deaths of four people

24-year-old man up to late yesterday afternoon was assisting police with investigations in connection with the shooting deaths of four people at their Gonzales home on Monday. The man, police sources said, was a member of a gang in the area. According to Deputy Police Commissioner Gilbert Reyes yesterday the suspect, from Gonzales, was arrested by a party of police officers on Tuesday night. During the attack at their family home around 12.30 am on Monday, Carmen McHutchinson, 68, and her step-grandchildren, Asha, 24, LL,13, and Javon Roberts,18, were shot dead.
Reyes said police also were searching for three other men believed to be part of a gang from Gonzales and wanted in connection with the killings. Expressing confidence the men would be brought to justice soon, Reyes said his officers were unrelenting in their search to seek out the other suspects. Aunt of the murdered Roberts’ siblings, Pamela Roberts-Glasgow, said a funeral service would be held for all four on Monday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Independence Square, Port-of-Spain.
Roberts-Glasgow said her niece, 23-year-old Jehial and Asha’s four-year-old daughter Zara Sylvester, who survived the attack were no longer listed in critical condition at hospital. “They are coming along and by the Grace of God we know their condition is going to improve. “It’s really sad little Zara has to grow up without a mother but God is good and those who did this would be brought to justice,” Roberts-Glasgow said.

Vincenzo "Jimmy" DeMaria is a member of the 'Ndrangheta and a family leader," the letter says. It further alleges that DeMaria "

bold legal challenge an accused Toronto Mafia boss made to prevent serious police allegations of underworld activities interfering with his release from prison will cost him thousands more now that a judge has ordered him to pay the government's legal bills.But for Vincenzo "Jimmy" DeMaria, a successful businessman, convicted killer and accused leader within the city's Mafia, the fact he was released from prison despite the damning allegations means it was money well spent.
His court appeals, threatened Constitutional challenge, affidavits, video and photo exhibits put together by his high-profile lawyers and a private investigations firm saved DeMaria from "many years of imprisonment," his lawyers say in court documents.
The government countered that much of his efforts unnecessarily ran up legal costs and that DeMaria's court actions were "premature, without merit and unnecessary."
Back in April of 2009, the 55-year-old DeMaria -- who is on lifetime parole for second-degree murder after shooting a man who owed him money in 1981 -- was arrested at his financial services office for alleged breach of his parole conditions.
As he fought for re-release, officers with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), a special anti-mob police team, wrote prison officials a letter accusing him of sitting on the Calabrian Mafia's board of control for the Toronto area; being an accomplice to the unsolved murder of a local gangster; engaging in drug trafficking; helping a cousin flee justice; and conspiring to hurt an underworld figure.He denies the allegations. In order to keep that report out of the hands of the National Parole Board before it had decided on his release, he filed suit in the Federal Court of Canada. He filed a similar suit to prevent the Correctional Service Canada from using it to keep him in a higher security prison. He also served notice of a Constitutional challenge against the use of such police allegations by the prison and parole systems, a move that, if successful, would have allowed many inmates to get out of prison earlier.

He eventually dropped all of his actions, however, when his parole hearing went smoothly; he was released after six months in prison.

"I think the board made the right decision," he told the National Post at the time.

The government then sought $6,500 in legal fees from him. After challenging that bill, he was last week ordered by the court to pay the government $3,380.

"Quite frankly, we got our money's worth," said John Hill, a prison law specialist, who was on DeMaria's legal team.He said the lawsuits forced the government to turn over information that was crucial in convincing the parole board.The CFSEU report, dated June 23, 2009, confirms that investigators have evidence that a Mafia "Board of Control" exists in Canada."Mr. DeMaria is a member of the 'Ndrangheta and a family leader," the letter says. It further alleges that DeMaria "was an accomplice to the 2000 murder of Gaetano Panepinto."
The parole board was unmoved."The allegations are certainly serious. However, in our view they are unsubstantiated," said Wes Marsden, chairman of the parole board panel. "The police information is not reliable or persuasive."

Deportation order against Oboc Peter Amon, 24, has been stayed and may be withdrawn completely

'He's a nice guy. Great guy.'—Teen Challenge counsellor Steve Solomon

order against Oboc Peter Amon, 24, has been stayed and may be withdrawn completely if Amon successfully follows a raft of strict conditions for the next five years, IRB member Douglas Cochran ruled in a decision made public on Friday.Amon had been ordered deported based on recent convictions for aggravated assault and assault with a weapon — offences he served time in jail for.Amon appealed his deportation on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, claiming he had made great efforts to overcome a three-year-long addiction to crack cocaine that fuelled his criminal behaviour.
Cochran agreed to stay the order, saying Amon's successful completion of a tough faith-based rehabilitation program called Teen Challenge, combined with his efforts to stay in school and hold down a job, sufficed to show he should be allowed conditionally to remain in the country.From now until early 2015, Amon must meet with a Canada Border Services agent every month, continue to live with his father in Winnipeg's Transcona neighbourhood and not knowingly associate with criminals. Other conditions of the reprieve include that he not use drugs or alcohol, and continue going to school or work.Amon's deportation order would likely be renewed if he were convicted of a crime carrying a sentence of six months or more, according to Canadian immigration rules
Police claim gang linksAt a hearing in January, a former Winnipeg police organized crime detective presented evidence to back up the department's belief that Amon is a member of the African Mafia street gang.
'On the balance of probabilities it has not been proven that [Amon] was a street gang member or associate.'—IRB member Douglas Cochran
The gang, which has operated in the West End and downtown areas of the city since 2005, is made up of immigrants from war-torn East African countries. Police say the gang's main interest is to profit from and control the sale of crack cocaine in the city.

The gang was formed as a splinter group of the Mad Cowz street gang after some members believed the leadership of the Mad Cowz group didn't do enough to avenge the gang-related shooting death of Sirak (Shaggy) Rezene — a friend of Amon — in 2004.

Const. William Degroot told Cochran that "several confidential sources" in the street gang underworld pegged Amon as a member of the group, but one who hadn't been seen on the streets for a considerable period of time.Degroot also testified that Amon had been arrested a number of times in the company of high-ranking African Mafia and Mad Cowz members, and that Amon's admission of membership was recorded on a booking sheet after an arrest.
Degroot added that police believe Amon's assault on a fellow inmate at Manitoba's Headingley Correctional Centre in 2007 — the inmate lost an eye after Amon stabbed him with a pen — was done to elevate his status in the gang and intimidate corrections officers.Amon disputed this, saying the assault was done out of anger and frustration, not at the behest of a gang. The blinding of the inmate was an accident, Amon said.
'I wasn't aiming'
"I wasn't aiming … [the victim] moved the wrong way, it hit the wrong place," Amon testified at the hearing. He also said he didn't know that many of the people he was hanging out with were gang members or associates.
"There is no evidence before me … that the victim had any gang associations, either rival or otherwise, or that any of [Amon's] actions are more likely gang motivated, as opposed to an irrational lashing out," Cochran concluded.
"On the balance of probabilities it has not been proven that [Amon] was a street gang member or associate," he added.He did say, however, that he found Amon's testimony suggesting he didn't know the people he was hanging around with were gang members "disingenuous.""His claimed ignorance is not credible. I conclude [Amon] was attempting to cast the most positive light on his interaction with gang members and knowledge of street gang activity by underplaying his knowledge of street gang activity in Winnipeg.
"While I have not accepted … that [Amon] was a member of the African Mafia street gang, it is clear that he made a home for himself in that milieu. If not an active member, he acquiesced in the drug trafficking activities of gang members and associated himself with these gang members as would benefit someone addicted to crack cocaine," Cochran said.
Rehab program creditedIt appears Amon's completion of the Christian faith-based Teen Challenge program weighed heavily in Cochran's decision to stay the deportation. Teen Challenge describes itself as a 12-month residential treatment program for men over 18 that mixes counselling, education, religious study and job training to help clients overcome addictions and lead more productive lives."He was a model participant," Cochran said. "[Amon] followed through with the Teen Challenge program, one that is both arduous and focused on making life changes for the better."At the January hearing, a counsellor gave a glowing review of what Amon had achieved in his year there. According to Steve Solomon, Amon worked his way up to become a program supervisor, and was "pretty much flawless in his acceptance of responsibilities.""There was no discussion about it," Solomon testified. "He did what he needed to do. He's a nice guy. Great guy," Solomon said."He wanted to be all he could be in the program … he was deeply repentant for the life, the choices he made previously," he said."There is no question he was living a bad lifestyle," Solomon said. "But the different thing is that Mr. Amon got the opportunity to turn his life around … he's a changed man."

Osiel Cárdenas Guillen was ordered to forfeit $50 million, a small slice of his estimated earnings.

Osiel Cárdenas Guillen was ordered to forfeit $50 million, a small slice of his estimated earnings.Cárdenas, 42, a native of the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, moved tons of cocaine and made millions as he ruled the Gulf cartel drug empire with a viciousness seldom before seen, authorities said."Osiel Cárdenas Guillen headed one of the most prolific and certainly most violent drug trafficking organizations that Mexico has ever spawned," said Mike Vigil, a retired agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration.The drug lord has not been seen publicly since he was ushered in shackles into a Houston courtroom in 2007 when he arrived in Texas.Despite a protest from the Houston Chronicle that the public had a right to be present for the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle kept the hearing closed. Much of the prosecution has been handled via closed hearings and sealed documents.
"We strongly believe that the American justice system should operate in the light of day and not in secret," said Jeff Cohen, editor of the Chronicle.What little is known about the proceeding came from an e-mailed U.S. Justice Department news release that said Cárdenas pleaded guilty to threatening to kill two U.S. federal agents who were caught driving through his turf in 1999, as well as a Cameron County sheriff's deputy working undercover in Texas.Cárdenas also pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and money laundering.

Mexican Mafia wanted a paroled Avenues gang member named Frank "Kiko" Cordova dead.

Pancho Real was at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church with his wife and daughter one Sunday in October 2006 when his cellphone rang.
He was summoned to a park near his home on Drew Street, a drug and gang haven in Northeast Los Angeles, to kill a man he didn't know. The Mexican Mafia wanted a paroled Avenues gang member named Frank "Kiko" Cordova dead.Real left church with his family and called another gang member, Carlos Renteria.At the park that afternoon, they figured out who Cordova was but saw he was among children.Outside the park, Real said, he told the mafia's representatives , who conferred with others by phone. They told Real to shoot Cordova anyway.Real and Renteria returned and saw Cordova walking away from the kids."We said, 'There he goes. Let's roll,' " Real testified.Real said he fired in the air to scare onlookers as Renteria walked across the park and shot the parolee. (Renteria was charged last summer with Cordova's murder.)Back on Drew Street minutes later, Real changed his sweat shirt, met his wife and daughter at his stepfather's and went about his Sunday.

That scene, described step by emotionless step, captured the life of opposing impulses of Francisco "Pancho" Real, former leader of the Drew Street clique of the Avenues gang and a member of a notorious crime family.He ordered up extortions and robberies and taxed drug dealers, but said he didn't use drugs, attended church every Sunday and attempted, as an attorney skeptically put it in cross-examination, to be a "kinder and gentler shot-caller."In testimony over two weeks in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Real, 28, offered a firsthand account of life in one of Southern California's most notorious Latino gangs. The Avenues gang has roamed Northeast L.A. since the 1950s. Its Drew Street clique, of newer vintage, dates to the 1990s.A short man in a white jumpsuit, shackled and with slicked-back hair falling to his shoulders, Real spoke slowly, leaning into a microphone on the witness stand next to Judge Lance Ito.He was ostensibly there to testify, immune from prosecution, in a preliminary hearing for three alleged Drew Streeters charged in the shooting death of a member of a rival gang on Feb. 21, 2008.Minutes after that attack, a fourth suspect in the shooting -- Real's half brother Daniel "Clever" Leon -- was killed in a shootout on Drew Street with Los Angeles police gang detectives, allegedly after firing at them with an assault rifle.
Leon's death was ruled a justifiable homicide. At the time, by all accounts, Pancho Real ran Drew Street. He knelt by his brother's body, then challenged officers to kill him as well. Four months later, he was arrested and charged with racketeering. Now he is an informant and is being treated for cancer. So Ito allowed prosecutors and defense attorneys wide latitude in questioning him."In the event this witness is not available in the future, this is your opportunity," Ito said at the hearing, which concluded two weeks ago.Real testified for days. Kids on Drew Street, he said, were raised as drug dealers amid a swirl of half brothers, baby mamas, aunts, second cousins and stepfathers. They hid guns, drugs and money in a maze of apartments while spotters alerted Real to every police car; a neighborhood auto shop worked on most of their shot-up cars, he said.The whims of incarcerated prison-gang members, expressed in rectum-smuggled notes, translated into Drew Street killings or beatings. Gang members knew one another by nicknames that seemed to reflect a cross between "A Clockwork Orange" and the Seven Dwarfs: Droopy, Nasty, Tricky, Flappy, Creeper, Menace, Pest.Not everything Real said could be confirmed. But as his testimony stretched on, law enforcement representatives slowly filled Ito's gallery: four homicide detectives; two uniformed officers; six, then eight sheriff's deputies.

Lawon Marshawn Hall, 19, of Richmond, died after two men opened fire outside the Suede nightclub near Fisherman's Wharf.

Lawon Marshawn Hall, 19, of Richmond, died after two men opened fire outside the Suede nightclub near Fisherman's Wharf. Hall was shot several times; three other men were also hit and survived.
One of the suspected gunmen, 20-year-old Keandre Davis, also of Richmond, was arrested after being shot by a patrol special officer assigned to help provide security for the club.
Lt. Mike Stasko, head of the San Francisco Police Department's homicide detail, said today that both Davis and Hall were believed to be members of rival Richmond gangs.
San Francisco and Richmond police have been cooperating in the investigation this week.
Davis was scheduled to be arraigned in San Francisco Superior Court this week on a murder charge for Hall's shooting, but that hearing was postponed as he remained in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds to his buttock and shin, San Francisco prosecutors said.
Arraignment was rescheduled for next Tuesday.
Investigators believe an argument inside the club then spilled out onto the street, where a large crowd was gathered.
A total of 44 bullet casings were recovered at the scene, 16 apparently fired by the patrol special officer, prosecutors said.
Davis was found lying wounded in front of an adult video store next to Suede.
A gun was also recovered and is being tested for fingerprints and DNA.
A second suspect, described as a black male about 6 feet 3 inches tall and 175 pounds with black dreadlocks, is still being sought by police. He was last seen wearing a white and tan hooded sweatshirt and running from Bay Street north onto Mason Street.
Though it appears many people saw the shooting, witnesses have so far been uncooperative, according to police and prosecutors.
The club is located blocks from Fisherman's Wharf and has been the site of prior violence, according to city officials. Club owners have agreed to a temporary 30-day closure.

Dawn raids on Fox drug gang, a notorious crime family as part of a crackdown over the assassination of gangster Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll.

Dawn raids on a notorious crime family as part of a crackdown over the assassination of gangster Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll.
Officers swooped on nine homes in Calton, Glasgow, belonging to members and associates of the Fox drug gang.
But they found nothing - as it appeared the Foxs had been tipped off.
The Record can reveal that Calton's Millroad Street was sealed off on Friday as three homes were turned over. One belongs to John Fox, the other to brother Andrew - known as Sanny - and the third to one of their sisters.
Six homes linked to side kicks were also searched.
A source close to the operation said: "The Foxs were absolutely livid because the cops came down on them like a ton of bricks.
"They went through the front doors and immediately shut down the Foxs' main landlines and mobiles to stop them tipping off other members of the family.
"It was a huge operation targeting the family and anyone close to their drug empire.
"Police were going through roofspaces and looking under floorboards but it looks as though the Foxs got a tip-off because they were clean and escaped this time.
"But senior officers have vowed to end their empire so this won't be the last time."
The Fox family have been dealing drugs in Glasgow's east end since the 1980s.
They have lived in Millroad Street for three generations.
John, 43, and Sanny, 40, started their crime career as car thieves but soon cashed in on the drugs trade started by parents Ronnie and Ena.
"Gerbil" Carroll - an enforcer for the Daniel crime family - was shot dead in a supermarket car park in January.

Bell Gardens street gang, included a suspected hit man for a Mexican drug cartel

Bell Gardens street gang, included a suspected hit man for a Mexican drug cartel, have been arrested on drug trafficking and weapons charges, federal officials said today.
The suspects — six U.S. citizens and three illegal Mexican immigrants — were arrested Thursday as agents served search warrants in Bell Gardens and Los Angeles, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
Several assault weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle, a Tec-9 submachine gun, a MAC-11 submachine gun and a sawed-off shotgun along with thousands of rounds of ammunition were also recovered.
“This is a relatively small and newer gang that has been operating with impunity for the last several years,” said Kevin Kozak, deputy special agent with ICE. “They have access to significant weapons … and claims they can have access to military grade weapons through a ‘friend’ in the military.”

Henry “Silent” Valenzuela, 27, of Bell Gardens, told an ICE undercover investigator that he is a hit man for a Tijuana-based drug cartel

Henry “Silent” Valenzuela, 27, of Bell Gardens, told an ICE undercover investigator that he is a hit man for a Tijuana-based drug cartel, officials said.
The arrests culminated a nine-month investigation of the Barrio Evil 13 street gang by ICE, which was assisted in the arrests by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Bell, Huntington Park, Vernon and Long Beach police departments.
“This is an ongoing investigation,” Kozak said. “We are concerned about the source origin of these weapons and the distribution network. The size of their stockpile implies that they were supplying other gangs.”

Former New York City police chief Bernard Kerik, hailed as a hero after the 9/11 attacks, has been sentenced to four years in jail.

Former New York City police chief Bernard Kerik, hailed as a hero after the 9/11 attacks, has been sentenced to four years in jail.
Kerik pleaded guilty in November to eight charges, including lying to the White House and tax evasion.
He lied while being vetted for the post of homeland security chief in 2004.
Federal judge Stephen Robinson said the fact that Kerik, 54, used the attacks for “personal gain and aggrandisement” was “a dark place in the soul for me”.
Kerik’s admissions in November were part of a plea bargain which helped him avoid a maximum potential sentence of up to 61 years in jail.
But the judge still went beyond the sentence of between 27 and 33 months recommended by prosecutors.
Jacuzzi
Kerik has already agreed to file amended tax returns and pay $188,000 (£120,600) in restitution.
As well as making false statements to the White House and other federal officials, Kerik admitted accepting a $250,000 payback in the form of house renovations from a company to which he gave a city contract.
The company installed marble bathrooms, a jacuzzi and a new kitchen in Kerik’s apartment in the upmarket New York suburb of Riverdale.
He also admitted tax crimes including failing to report more than $500,000 in taxable income between 1999 and 2004.
Mr Kerik had been hailed as a national hero following the 9/11 terror attacks and was nominated for the post of the head of the Department of Homeland Security under the Bush administration in 2004.
But he withdrew his name from consideration for the role after he was accused of failing to pay taxes, and of having extramarital affairs.

Nigro is alleged to have ordered the hit on Bruno

Nigro is alleged to have ordered the hit on Bruno (pictured at left with his son in 1993), that was carried out by Frankie Roche in the parking lot of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Springfield MA. Springfield's ABC 40 has more details on today's indictment, reporting that five others were named in the 40 page document; Anthony Arillotta of Springfield and Steve Alfisi, Marcos Caio, James Coumoutsos, and George Coumoutsos of New York. table style="border:0px; padding:0px;">Reputed mob leader arrested in Al Bruno murder

Julian Jose Garza, 28, of Notus, Idaho, and a member of the East Side Locos gang

Julian Jose Garza, 28, of Notus, Idaho, and a member of the East Side Locos gang in Caldwell, was sentenced Tuesday to 70 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm, the United States Attorney's Office announced.He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge, who also ordered Garza to serve 3 years of supervised release after he completes his prison term. He will serve his sentence in a federal prison outside of Idaho.Garza pled guilty to the charge in September 2009. During his plea, Garza admitted possessing a 9mm semi-automatic handgun during a confrontation with two men in Caldwell on May 14, 2008. Where Garza had been previously convicted of Discharge of a Firearm into an Occupied Dwelling in Canyon County, Idaho, he was also prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law.Garza's case was investigated by the Caldwell Police Department, the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crimes Task Force, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. His prosecution was part of Idaho's Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.Julian Garza's sentencing concluded a multi-faceted investigation into the criminal activities of Julian Garza's family, gang and associates. Julian Garza's father, Gabriel Garza, pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawful possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 12 months of prison on March 30, 2009. Julian Garza's girlfriend, Chelsea Robbins-Gonzalez, was convicted of perjury, after lying to the federal grand jury regarding Julian Garza's possession of a firearm. On June 1, 2009, she was sentenced to two years of probation.

Alberto Hurtado Osorio, 60, was behind bars in Colombia last night

Alberto Hurtado Osorio, 60, was behind bars in Colombia last night. His arrest came two years after the Australian Federal Police and counterparts in South America and Latin America launched a sting to smash his cartel, which is suspected of smuggling drugs across the world through the post.Osorio, who served two years in Sydney on drug charges in the early 1990s, had been on the AFP's secret "top 10" target list for years.But the Colombian, a senior member of a well-known Bogata-based cartel, had eluded police by constantly moving throughout the South American country and keeping the operation at arm's length.It is alleged the drug cartel was smuggling cocaine to contacts in Australia in comparatively small amounts -- about 300g -- via air mail, certified mail and private parcel companies.Police have no idea how much cocaine the cartel had managed to smuggle into Australia. It was sent from Peru and Argentina in a bid to disguise its Colombian origins.Police began to close in on Osorio late last year after the AFP intercepted three consignments of 300g of cocaine in Sydney. At the same time, Peruvian authorities seized two consignments bound for Australia.
The gang is also suspected of smuggling drugs into other major Western markets worldwide.Peruvian police arrested two men at the same time Osorio was picked up. All three have been charged with trafficking and will face trial in their respective countries.
The investigation into the cartel's Australian connections is continuing.
AFP investigators said yesterday drug-smugglers had returned to using the post after the post-September 11, 2001, security crackdown on ports and airports made it increasingly difficult to smuggler large amounts of drugs.AFP national manager for serious and organised crime Kevin Zuccato said Osorio's arrest was a significant development in Australia's fight against drugs."This guy has been on our radar since 1992," Mr Zuccato said. "Increasingly, smugglers are sending comparatively smaller amounts of drugs through the post and with `swallowers' on planes."It is difficult to know how much drugs this gang got in to Australia. It is not about the quantity of the drugs seized but the quality of the crook we arrest and stop from bringing drugs into this country. He was a very senior member of a significant drug syndicate in Colombia, with suspected links to other syndicates."
Police arrested 25 people in Australia this week for allegedly mailing drugs around the country hidden in different items, including a teddy bear.The AFP said it had seized 145 parcels and 73kg of drugs.The teddy bear was used to hide a new drug called "miaow", which has been likened to ecstasy.

Scott William Schneider, 30, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to driving while impaired and possession of a prohibited firearm.

Scott William Schneider, 30, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to driving while impaired and possession of a prohibited firearm.He was handed a two-year and nine-month sentence, a 10-year firearm ban and a two-year driving ban.
Schneider was carrying a loaded handgun when he was arrested early Christmas Day after a hit-and-run in the 800-block Parker Street in White Rock.His passenger, a 27-year-old White Rock man, is scheduled to appear in Feb. 18 in Surrey Provincial Court, where he will face charges of uttering threats and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.In 2008, Schneider was acquitted, alongside White Rock Angel Villy Roy Lynnerrup and chapter president Douglas Falconer Riddoch, for assault charges stemming from a home invasion and assault in 2007.

Bomb blast killed two men in Adelaide.

The man, of suburban Munno Para West, has not been charged in relation to the fatal explosion that claimed the lives of a Hells Angels bikie gang associate and a convicted drug dealer.The pair died when a homemade bomb went off in a car at suburban Enfield before dawn.Police believe the bomb was triggered by accident and a rival gang member was the intended target.The man charged was detained after police went to the home of one of the dead men and found a second bomb.He was also charged with drug and firearms offences and was remanded in custody to appear again in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court in March.

Joseph Ferraiolo was targeted.

"To me it seems like there was some inside or some targeting here because we never ever had problems here," says Steve Frydman who has owned a real estate business on the second floor of this building for 20 years.
In that time he says he's never experienced the violence police say took place right below his office, "the space that they rented here was always quiet and discrete I never saw any unusual amount of people at once that would come here."
Things changed Tuesday just after 8pm. Hamden Police were called to a Touch of Color tattoo parlor where they found 64-year-old Ferraiolo shot to death.
There were signs of a struggle inside the shop but few clues pointed to the shooter. Now investigators are looking at all leads, including Ferraiolo’s possible affiliation to motorcycle gangs.
"Summer time they have a lot of bike guys coming over there," Jimmy Patel owns a package store close to Touch of Color, he remembers seeing the bikes parked outside.
But Kaleb Edgar, a tattoo artist at the parlor tells NBC Connecticut News that nothing illegal happened in the shop.
Bob Piccirillo, the owner of Hamden Barber Shop, also calls the connection police are trying to make between Ferraiolo and a gang a stretch, "have I seen bikes? I’ve seen some but it’s not like they all congregate. Like I said, I’ve seen a couple of them but that is kind of surprising to me."
Edgar says Ferraiolo is survived by four adult children. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Hamden Police Department.

“RIP King Of The Hill.”

Another said: “True Bad Man. RIP bro. Never forgotten.”
And another said: “Words cannot explain how we all feel as you were a true friend to us all and you did many good things for us all and helped us out in ways others would not.
“You were at the top but still had time for us at the bottom. Just to know you and call you a friend was an honour. The respect you had for others around will be very missed. We all turned to you in our times of need. And now we all seem so lost now you have gone.”‘King of the Hill’ who was found shot dead in the Cheshire mansion of a controversial businessman Arran Coghlan.

Stephen ‘Aki’ Akinyemi, 44, was said to be a prominent member of the notorious Cheetham Hill gang, which is believed to be behind major crime and the supply of drugs in Manchester.He was known for enjoying champagne and cruising Manchester’s clubland in his silver Porsche, with the private registration AKI.He had a string of previous convictions and most recently had been jailed for 13 months in 2006 for violent disorder.At the time of his death, he was on bail for allegedly attacking someone with a baseball bat outside the Lounge 31 nightclub in the city centre in November.He was found with serious stab injuries at Mr Coghlan’s Alderley Edge home on Tuesday afternoon. He was wearing a stab vest.But a post-mortem examination revealed he had died of a gunshot wound, not knife injuries.Mr Coghlan was also discovered with stab injuries at the scene and he was taken to hospital under police guard. He was later discharged although he remains in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder.Last night a tribute page to Mr Akinyemi on social networking website Facebook, titled ‘RIP AKI’, had more than 600 members.
Another said: “True Bad Man. RIP bro. Never forgotten.”
And another said: “Words cannot explain how we all feel as you were a true friend to us all and you did many good things for us all and helped us out in ways others would not.“You were at the top but still had time for us at the bottom. Just to know you and call you a friend was an honour. The respect you had for others around will be very missed. We all turned to you in our times of need. And now we all seem so lost now you have gone.”Mr Coghlan was cleared in 1996 of murdering Stockport ‘Mr Big’ Chris Little, who was shot dead at the wheel of his Mercedes.In 2003, Mr Coghlan stood trial for the murder of drug dealer David Barnshaw, who was kidnapped and forced to drink petrol before being burned alive in the back of a car in Stockport in 2001.But the case collapsed when it was revealed police had failed to pass on important information about another possible suspect.

Chris Little was known to police in Stockport as an empire-builder

Chris Little was a product of Greater Manchester, a city now coping with some of the most viciously criminal neighbourhoods in urban Europe. As a local villain, he was known to police in Stockport as an empire-builder rather than 'self-employed builder' as he had lately styled himself. In reality, he was a feared racketeer. One man who betrayed him was bundled into a small dark room with only the Rottweiler for company.
Little's gangs of doormen provided 'security' at nightclubs in Stockport. One club run by rivals was targeted in a gun attack recently.Earlier this year, Little recruited young men to launch a spate of arson attacks in Stockport in which schools, shops and vehicles were damaged by firebombs. No one was hurt, but about pounds 1m worth of damage was done.Although the police suspected Little of organising the attacks (thought to have been carried out as a show of strength), he was never charged.Lately, Little had tried to expand his empire into the Stretford area, stepping on the toes of drug barons there.He owned a nice house in a good area of Stockport, but probably his greatest pride and joy was the Merc - a black 500 SLE. With the Rottweiler, nobody would surprise him; with the car, nobody would catch him. It turned out to be a fatal double delusion.As he stopped at traffic lights in Stockport Road, Marple, on Friday night, a white Ford Granada travelling in the same direction pulled up alongside. The shots came from its open window.Under the dying man's foot, the automatic Merc sped off, colliding with two vehicles and injuring four people.At the dead man's home yesterday, the Rottweiler could be heard barking.

Arran Coghlan, 39,guarded by armed police in hospital while being treated for knife wounds.

Arran Coghlan, 39,guarded by armed police in hospital while being treated for knife wounds.His business associate Stephen ‘Aki’ Akinyemi, 36, was found stabbed to death in his bathroom following an alleged row.Yesterday, officers were searching Coghlan's £2million converted chapel in Alderley Edge, Cheshire – known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’ where Premiership footballers rub shoulders with soap stars.
Members of his family have been taken into protective custody.Police said yesterday: ‘A 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is receiving hospital treatment.’Akinyemi, from Cheetham Hill, Manchester, suffered fatal knife wounds despite wearing a stab proof vest.Coghlan, dialled 999 as Akinyemi lay dying, suffered serious knife injuries to his upper body.The call, made at 2pm on Tuesday, occurred after father of one Coghlan - who survived an attempt on his life in a bar on New Years Day 2009 - was suspected by police of building a multi-million pound crime empire.In 1996 he was acquitted of the gangland murder of drug baron Chris Little dubbed the Devil Dog Mobster because he set rottweilers on rivals.
Little, 32, was shot dead at the wheel of his Mercedes.Coghland was cleared .In 2002 Coghlan stood trial accused of murder again after claims he kidnapped and burnt to death petty drug dealer David Barnshaw, 32, in the boot of a car in September 1999.
Jurors were told that Coghlan – who has a bed shaped like a pirate ship – had ‘built an empire through ruthless violence, demanding respect and loyalty from all those who worked for him.’ The case against him and others collapsed when it was revealed police had failed to pass on important information about another possible suspect.
Coghlan, nicknamed ‘Az’ on the registration plate of his Bentley Turbo, has always denied any involvement in wrongdoing and claimed detectives were involved in a ‘campaign to get him at all costs’.
He is now suing the Greater Manchester force after it emerged a disgraced senior detective had withheld vital evidence from a file which linked the second of the murders to another suspect.
Despite his alleged underhand connections, many neighbours thought he was an accountant. Residents of Alderley Edge include Manchester City star Carlos Tevez, cricketer Freddie Flintoff and Coronation Street actress Samia Ghadie.
On New Year’s Day 2009, Coghlan was stabbed in the head face and back as he partied with friends at Cobdens bar in his native Stockport, Greater Manchester.
The knifeman was never traced but police suspect the attack was linked to mobsters from the Cheetham Hill gang.

Danielle Bardsley, 30, wept as she was imprisoned after ignoring a court order

Danielle Bardsley, 30, wept as she was imprisoned after ignoring a court order demanding she pay back some of the money stolen by her boyfriend Peter Anderson.
Last year the M.E.N. revealed how Bardsley, of Barrow Street, Salford, enjoyed a footballer's ‘WAG’ lifestyle thanks to Anderson’s life of crime.
A court ruled she had benefited to the tune of £112,000 but a VW Golf car and a few pounds in a bank account were the only assets of hers police could find.
She was handed a suspended prison sentence and given four months to hand over £5,036 of ‘realisable assets’, mainly the VW Golf.In December, she flouted her suspended prison sentence by failing to keep appointments with her probation worker as required.But judge Anthony Gee gave her another chance after hearing she had become ‘depressed’ because her boyfriend was locked away.She was allowed to walk free although she was handed a curfew to prevent her partying over the Christmas period.But she still couldn’t stay out of trouble.Bardsley was arrested on Monday after snubbing six police letters and a court summons.Yesterday Bardsley sobbed as magistrates in Bolton invoked the jail term handed down last year in the event she failed to pay up.The court heard she had paid £2,000 on November 27 after selling the Golf but she later ignored two letters and a court summons about the outstanding amount.
She claimed she had again been ‘depressed’ and that the value of the Golf had been slashed due to damage.Giving her 72 days behind bars, chairman of the bench Dr Derek Tate told her: “We believe there’s no evidence that you have made a concerted effort to discharge this order.”He added there was ‘no merit’ in her bid to adjourn the hearing to, as her solicitor Vic Wozny said, ‘beg or borrow’ the money from her family.Bardsley’s boyfriend Anderson was jailed for six years in 2006 for a terrifying armed bank raid in Preston.At the previous hearing, a court was told how she had enjoyed a luxury lifestyle while claiming benefits.She wore Prada designer clothes and jewellery, went to a private gym and lived behind wrought iron gates in a comfortable semi-detached house equipped with the latest mod cons, including a Bang & Olufsen flat-screen TV.Bardsley boasted a permanent tan thanks to holidays in Mexico, Florida and Tenerife and had access to a fleet of cars including a Porsche Cayenne, Range Rover Sport and Audi A4.Despite all that, for nearly 10 years the mum-of-two claimed she was unemployed and sponged £30,000 from the state in income support as a ‘single mother’.
She also claimed free school meals for her two children.She admitted money laundering but escaped jail at the first hearing because of concerns over the care of the two children she has with Anderson.

Stephen Marshall, 38, admitted having butchered the bodies of four other men while working as a doorman for a London nightclub

Stephen Marshall, 38, also admitted having butchered the bodies of four other men while working as a doorman for a London nightclub run by gangsters in the 1990s. Police will reopen a number of cold cases involving missing people and body parts found in the past 15 years.Described as both "charming" and "highly volatile", Marshall will serve a minimum of 36 years for murdering Jeffrey Howe and then scattering his body parts across two counties before emptying his bank account and selling his possessions. His 21-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Bush, was sentenced to three years and nine months for helping Marshall cover up the murder.
Howe's body had been so expertly dismembered that pathologists who examined the macabre finds correctly concluded that the person responsible must have "previous experience of such activity". St Albans crown court heard that Marshall had previously boasted that he used to cut up and bury bodies on behalf of the notorious Adams family, who ran a crime empire in north London. One witness told the jury that Marshall worked as a bouncer for the family and would carry out "additional jobs after hours" – decapitating and dismembering murder victims and burying them without a trace.
Today Marshall's barrister Peter Doyle, QC, told the jury his client had described between 1995 and 1998 working as a doorman at clubs where on four occasions he had been asked to assist in the dismemberment of four unidentified men who had been killed earlier and brought to the clubs during the night. Doyle said Marshall had thought it "sensible" not to ask questions, and following the chopping up of the bodies the parts would be collected by others and taken to Epping Forest in north-east London and buried.After sentencing it emerged that Marshall had a string of previous convictions, including one for battering his first wife in 2003. He was also arrested on suspicion of murdering Minesh Nagrecha, whose corpse was disfigured and burnt when found by police in 1996. Marshall was never charged with the crime, instead appearing as a witness.

When the trial opened three weeks ago Marshall denied being the murderer, instead blaming Bush, a "vulnerable" young sex worker who had given birth to the first of her three children just a few days after her 15th birthday. But in a dramatic about-turn last week Marshall changed his plea and admitted being responsible for the whole crime.Sentencing him, the judge, Mr Justice Cooke, said that Marshall, a heavy cocaine user, now admitted stabbing Howe twice on March 8 last year. The judge said Marshall carried out the murder in a "muddled and no doubt drug-befuddled state" as Howe lay sleeping in bed in his house in Southgate, north London, which he shared with the couple.Today Bush finally admitted perverting the course of justice by helping Marshall cover up Howe's murder. She said she was with Marshall when he dumped Howe's head, unwrapped, in a field near Ashfordby in Leicestershire.
She admitted misleading police and friends of Howe by claiming he had simply "upped and left" while secretly using his money to buy shoes, a laptop, takeaways and other goodsHer barrister told the judge she was "terrified" of Marshall and helped him because she was scared of becoming his next victim. To Bush, the judge said: "You were well aware of what Stephen Marshall had done. You took advantage of Mr Howe in life and then after his death you used his money."Bush was acquitted of murdering Howe but pleaded guilty to helping to dispose of his body parts and giving false information about his whereabouts when police were investigating his disappearance.She was sentenced to three years and nine months for the first offence and to two years and three months for the second one, with the two terms to run concurrently.
She received a relatively lenient sentence because of her upbringing. The court heard she had spent most of her life in care before falling into prostitution and that her first baby died when he was 10 days old. After the verdict, police admitted being "quite surprised" when Marshall's previous involvement in dismembering bodies was aired in court.Detective Superintendent Michael Hanlon, who was in charge of the investigation, said Marshall would be visited in prison and asked to expand on the 11th-hour admissions made moments before his life sentence was handed to him.
Parts of Howe's body began turning up last March, a few days after Marshall had stabbed him to death. Police quickly realised they were dealing with a murder victim whose identity at the time was not known. As more pieces were discovered the victim became known as the "jigsaw man".
Howe's hands have not been found and police say they hope Marshall will show "decency" to the victim's family by giving their location. After the verdict Howe's family issued a statement that described him as a "a jovial, charming character who had a heart of gold". They said they would never be able to comprehend "Jeffrey's death and the macabre actions of those who killed him".

Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair has said that he always feels "relaxed and safe" whenever he stays in Dublin.

Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair has said that he always feels "relaxed and safe" whenever he stays in Dublin. Adair (46) is currently living in Troon in Scotland but plans to end his self-imposed exile and return to Ireland. In an interview with Dublin's Herald newspaper, the gangster ruled out living permanently in Dublin but said he never felt threatened in the Irish capital. "The thing that struck me about Dublin is how relaxing it was and how safe I felt there," he said. "I wouldn't be as easily recognised in Dublin as I would be in the North or in Britain, so I feel more at ease. "I've been recognised on a few occasions while I was in Dublin but I was never threatened and had no negative experiences, no one seemed to have a problem.
The notorious gangster led one of the most brutal loyalist companies in the history of the Troubles. A spokesperson for the newly decommissioned UDA said: "It will be up to the police to deal with him if he comes back and there's no doubt he'll be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life," he said. However, Adair is determined to come home and start a security firm. He said: "I'll be going back to the North, absolutely. It's not an option at the moment because there are still threats against my life from the UDA."