Cocaine Worth £25m Hidden In Fake Bananas

A £25m cocaine haul has been found hidden inside fake plastic bananas brought to the UK from Colombia.

Four men have been arrested in Lambeth and Kent after a surveillance operation followed the drugs, which weighed 150kg (23st), to a warehouse.

Metropolitan Police said the illicit stash arrived at Dover at 6am on Thursday and was delivered by lorry to a trading estate in Hartlip, Kent.

A man was seen unloading the shipment and locking up the warehouse.

Detectives kept watch over the warehouse while others followed three Colombian men to an internet cafe in Stockwell, south London, where they are believed to have picked up email instructions relating to the drugs.

The men were arrested as they left the cafe.

Police from the MPS Special Projects Team forced their way into the warehouse on Thursday night and found the cocaine compressed and hidden in boxes alongside real bananas.

Officers say the drugs have a wholesale value of around £7m but would be worth more than £25m on the street.

The four men - aged 48, 46, 39 and 36 - remain in custody. Police say the lorry driver who delivered the shipment was not part of the gang.

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Motor Racing On UK's Streets A Big Step Closer

Councils are to be given powers to stage motor races on public roads, it has been revealed.

Downing Street said legislation would be introduced this year to allow speed limits to be lifted and competitive events held.

Such races - including the Birmingham Superprix between 1986 and 1990 - have previously required specific permission from parliament.

David Cameron hailed the decision as he opened the new Williams F1 engineering facility in Oxfordshire.

"We're going to change the rules so that local councils are able to make decisions, so you don't have to have a private member's bill through parliament," he said.

The Birmingham Superprix in 1988

"We think (this will be) great news British motorsport. More races, more events, more money coming into our country and more success for this extraordinary industry."

The change, which follows a consultation earlier this year, brings the prospect of a Monaco-style Grand Prix on the streets of London closer.

Legislation will be added to the Deregulation Bill in the autumn, and could be in force before the general election next year.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said local authorities would have to consult with local people and ensure all necessary safety precautions were in place.

Thousands of people turned up watch the second city's street-circuit race

"We have seen in recent years a great number of successful sporting events here in the UK, of various sizes," the spokesman said.

"Alongside that I think this country has a long tradition ... of engineering excellence, particularly in motor sport."

It comes after the country hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France this month, which attracted around six million spectators and is estimated to contributed more than £100m to the economy,

Martin Hone, the organiser of the original Birmingham Superprix, had previously called on the city's leaders to show "political will" to secure the event's return.

"I still have the energy and vitality and would love to do it," he told the Birmingham Mail.

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Croc On A Plane: Reptile 'May Have Caused Crash'

An escaped crocodile may have caused a plane crash which killed a British pilot and 18 others, an inquest has heard.

Chris Wilson died when the jet he was co-piloting plunged to the ground during a routine flight across the Congo in August 2010.

No cause for the crash has ever been established but an inquest was told a crocodile may have sparked a stampede by roaming around the aisles moments before the aircraft came down.

It is thought the plane, which was travelling from Kinshasa to Bandundu, may have nosedived as passengers and crew members ran from the reptile.

Assistant Coroner David Dooley said it was "apparently quite normal" for animals to be carried on the plane, adding: "It was used like a taxi in this regard."

"There is apparently a video of the crocodile being taken out of the plane," he told the hearing at Gloucester Coroner's Court.

"(Investigators) think it may have frightened the cabin crew member and she ran forward, with the other passengers following.

"The weight shift caused by the panic may have affected the plane, causing it to nosedive or stall."

Mr Wilson moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010 after giving up his job as a cabin crew member to follow his dream of becoming a commercial pilot.

The 39-year-old worked for local company Filair but is said to have become increasingly concerned about the flying ability of co-pilot Danny Philemotte, who owned the firm.

In a statement read to the court, his brother, Martin, said:  "Every time he flew with Mr Philemotte, there was always one incident or another.

"He said he didn't want to fly with him anymore.

"He said if it wasn't for the fact they could see where they were going, they wouldn't ever get anywhere because Mr Philemotte couldn't read the instruments.

"He said he didn't know how Mr Philemotte was still alive (because) his flying was so bad."

Timothy Atkinson, an air accident investigator, said he had reviewed evidence from the Congolese authorities but was unable to draw any definitive conclusions because they were not given the plane's black box data recorder.

"There is no evidence suggesting an engine failure or a nose dive, although I cannot be sure without looking at the plane," he told the court.

"The accident appears to have the hallmarks of a stall and spin, which may have been from a variety of causes.

"Essentially, it fell out of the sky."

Mr Dooley recorded an open conclusion, saying a lack of witnesses and data from the black box "have only resulted in vague guesses as to what happened".

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Teenager Admits Killing Teacher Ann Maguire

By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent

A 16-year-old has admitted killing teacher Ann Maguire in a classroom stabbing.

The teenager is accused of murdering the 61-year-old Spanish teacher at the Corpus Christi College in Leeds in April this year.

Prosecuting barrister Paul Greaney QC told a hearing at Leeds Crown Court that the boy didn't admit murder but said: "It did amount to an admission of manslaughter."

No formal plea was entered but defence barrister Richard Wright QC said the boy had "accepted responsibility for unlawful killing".

Ann Maguire was the first teacher to be fatally stabbed in a British school

The schoolboy, who cannot legally be identified because of his age, appeared via video link from an undisclosed location.

He wore blue trousers and a red T-shirt and responded clearly to confirm details of his identity and that he understood what was happening. 

Members of Mrs Maguire's family sat in the public gallery for the 10-minute hearing.

A note left among the tributes to Ann Maguire by a pupil

The teacher had worked at Corpus Christi College at Halton Moor for more than 40 years and was just weeks away from retirement when she died. 

It is the first time a teacher has been stabbed to death in a British classroom.

The public was warned at the hearing not to risk contempt of court by commenting on the case through online blogging or social media.

Flowers laid outside Corpus Christi Catholic College in April

Others have been jailed over recent months for doing so, Judge Peter Collier QC said.

The boy was remanded in custody until the next hearing on September 26. 

Psychiatric reports will now be prepared before the trial, which is due to start on November 3.

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Colostomy Bag Pic Inspires 'Invisible' Others

By Emma Birchley, Sky News East of England Correspondent

A woman's decision to post a picture of herself sunbathing with her colostomy bag on show has inspired dozens of other young people to do the same.

The photograph of Bethany Townsend, 23, has been seen by more than 12 million people worldwide as part of drive to increase understanding of different forms of inflammatory bowel disease.

Her action has prompted 20-year-old Ricky Babra to speak to Sky News about life before and after he had his large intestine removed, and a colostomy bag fitted in May 2013 due to ulcerative colitis.

Ricky Babra said having his large intestine removed changed his life

"Previously when I was in a bad state I would not leave my house so all my friends were going out and enjoying themselves and I would be like 'I can't make it today' or they wouldn't see me in school for about a month."

But he says his operation has transformed his health and changed his life and that having a colostomy bag is just part of who he is.

"It's made me feel so much better. It's lifted so many restrictions. I can go out without worrying too much," he said.

"I'm not on any medication which has made me so happy. I can live my life like a normal person."

Every year 18,000 people find out they have either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

In the case of Crohn's, any part of the digestive system can be affected, while ulcerative colitis is found in the colon and rectum.

The 20-year-old says having a colostomy bag is just part of who he is

Symptoms include pain in the abdomen, diarrhoea, weight loss and tiredness.

The problem, according to David Barker, chief executive of Crohn's and Colitis UK, is that they are "invisible diseases".

"They are not diseases people really want to talk about. They are embarrassing conditions," said Mr Barker.

"We have a duty to the increasing number of people with Crohn's and colitis to ensure we get greater awareness, greater profile and ultimately greater understanding for these conditions."

But there is real concern about just how many young people like Ricky and Bethany are being diagnosed with some form of inflammatory bowel disease.

Dr Jeremy Sanderson, a consultant gastroenterologist at London Bridge Hospital, said: "A lot of the people we see are young. The average age is between 20 and 30.

"It gets them just at the time they don't need it, a critical time in school, just gone to university, they're just starting their first job and just when things seem to be going right, their tummy lets them down."

Dr Sanderson said it was crucial that patients are diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.

The two conditions affect at least 260,000 people in the UK.

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Mums-To-Be Admit Drinking Too Much Booze

By Afua Hirsch, Social Affairs Editor

Thousands of women a year are giving birth after admitting having drunk too much during their pregnancies, a Sky News investigation has found.

Although government guidelines warn pregnant women against drinking more than four units a week - equivalent to two large glasses of wine -  hospitals have recorded a significant number drinking much more.

The first hospital figures of their kind suggest that more than 2,000 babies a year are born to mothers who have breached alcohol guidelines.

Heavy drinking during pregnancy increases the health risks to children

And experts say the problem is likely to be much worse as NHS trusts rely on women to honestly report how much they have drunk.

The figures - obtained by Sky News following a Freedom of Information request - show that in the last three years, 2,496 mothers-to-be told hospital staff in England they were drinking at least four units of alcohol a week.

In the worst cases, South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust recorded four women drinking more than 34 units a week over that period.

Liverpool Women's hospital recorded 17 women drinking more than 20 units a week, and two drinking more than 10 units every day.

However, fewer than half of all England NHS trusts (45 out of 108) were able to supply figures.

Figures obtained by Sky News also reveal gaps in monitoring of consumption

Extrapolating the figures suggests that just over 2,000 mothers-to-be admit to drinking too much during pregnancy.

Overall, the hospital statistics showed around 0.5% of pregnant women admitted drinking more than the Department of Health guidelines.

Heavy drinking during pregnancy increases the risk that babies will be born with foetal alcohol syndrome - a life-long condition that can leave children physically and mentally disabled.

One woman whose son was born with foetal alcohol syndrome after she drunk heavily during pregnancy following years of alcoholism, said little was done to help her break her addiction.

"When I was five months pregnant, I told the midwife that I was an alcoholic and that I couldn't control my drinking," said Samantha Marchant, 40, from Slough.

"They referred me to a drug and alcohol team which put me on a drinks diary ... I'd have liked them to say 'you can have a place in rehab', but it wasn't offered."

Samantha Marchant says more must be done to help mums-to-be break habits

"I didn't know about the biology of what happens if you drink in pregnancy," added Ms Marchant, who is now a recovered alcoholic and works to raise other women's awareness of the dangers of drinking during pregnancy.

Dr Raja Mukherjee, lead clinician for the national foetal alcohol spectrum disorder clinic at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: "All the research has shown that high level alcohol exposure causes significant damage to a developing foetus.

"We know that women are drinking more .. 90% of women in this country drink and they don't all suddenly stop when they are pregnant."

The figures obtained by Sky also reveal significant gaps in the monitoring of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

More than 90% of hospitals do not ask women about their alcohol consumption throughout pregnancy, and three of the NHS trusts did not ask pregnant women about their drinking at all.

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Harry Potter Actor Found Dead In Death Valley

British actor Dave Legeno, who played a villain in three of the Harry Potter films, has died while hiking in California's Death Valley.

Police said Legeno, 50, was found by another pair of hikers and that he appeared to have died of "heat-related issues".

The actor played werewolf Fenrir Greyback in Harry Potter and had roles opposite Brad Pitt in Snatch and Christian Bale in Batman Begins. He was also due to appear in the forthcoming film Sword Of Vengeance.

Legeno was also a professional boxer, wrestler and martial artist.

Legeno played a werewolf called Fenrir Greyback in Harry Potter

A sheriff's department spokesman said: "It appears that Legeno died of heat-related issues, but the Inyo County Coroner will determine the final cause of death.

"There are no signs of foul play."

Fellow Harry Potter star Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, paid tribute to his colleague.

Legeno was also a professional boxer

"Gutted to hear the sad news about Dave Legeno. He was a true Big, Friendly, Gentleman. Was a pleasure every time we met #BFG #DaveLegeno," he wrote.

Felton also posted a picture on Instagram of a publicity poster for the Harry Potter films, saying: "Dave Legeno. It was always a pleasure. He was a great talent with a heart of gold and always had time."

California's Death Valley is the hottest national park in the US

Death Valley is a basin that lies 282ft below sea level and is the hottest national park in the US.

It is near the border of the states of California and Nevada and covers an area of some 3,000 square miles (7,800 sq km).

Average temperatures in July are around 48C (116F).

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Rude Police To Be Punished Under New Rules

Hillsborough Disaster: Ex-Police Officers Quizzed

Updated: 7:33pm UK, Thursday 27 March 2014

By Mike McCarthy, North Of England Correspondent

Thirteen retired and serving police officers are being questioned over offences related to the Hillsborough football disaster, the national police watchdog has said.

Eleven of the suspects have been interviewed so far and they are all retired. Of the two others to be questioned in the near future, one is a serving officer.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said the 13 suspects were being questioned under criminal caution over a range of offences, including manslaughter, misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice.

It is the first time the IPCC has announced information on suspects.

Trevor Hicks, who lost two daughters in the disaster, said the wheels of justice were "slowly turning".

Ninety-six Liverpool football fans were killed after being crushed against barriers at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield.

The tragedy happened during the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in April 1989.

Families of the victims will be allowed to present "pen portraits" of their loved ones at the start of new inquests beginning on Monday.

Described as "exquisitely sensitive and important" by a lawyer for the inquests, they will involve family members reading out statements about each of the fans who died.

According to barrister Christina Lambert QC, the contributions will give members of the jury information "concerning personality and character of each of those who lost their lives so that the jury can have a glimpse of who they were...their hopes and plans for the future."

Screens around the vast inquest room will feature a still of each victim as their family statement is presented. The coroner Lord Justice Goldring, who has already read the statements, has described them as "very moving and very important".

A hearing to finalise details of the inquests heard they are likely to last more than nine months and end sometime in 2015.

It was revealed that an hour of previously unseen BBC footage has been discovered. Barristers have asked for the material to be made available.

Many organisations will be represented at the inquest, including South Yorkshire Police, the Police Federation, police match commanders in charge during the disaster, Sheffield Wednesday Football Club and Sheffield City Council.

More than 80 lawyers are involved in the inquests, which were ordered in December last year after the High Court had quashed the original verdicts of accidental death.

One thousand people received a summons to serve on the jury and 150 of those will be called to the inquests on Monday. Eleven jurors will finally be selected and sworn in.

An office block in Warrington, Cheshire, has been converted to house the coroner's court.

An application by some lawyers to put back the inquests because of a delay in pathology reports was rejected by the coroner. However, there will be a break in the early stages of the inquests to give barristers time to consider the reports.

It was revealed that members of the jury will be taken to see the terraces at Hillsborough stadium where the victims were killed.

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Northern Ireland Parade Day: Man Stabbed

Tens of thousands of members of the Orange Order have been parading across Northern Ireland.

Around 3,500 police officers are on duty after the discovery of a letter bomb at the country's main sorting office overnight.

A 28-year-old man was stabbed during fighting between republican and loyalist factions at Ormeau Bridge, a normally peaceful spot where predominantly nationalist and unionist communities meet in south Belfast.

Tensions are high as marchers take to the streets

Eight people were arrested overnight for public order offences in north and west Belfast and an attack on an Orange Hall in Ballycastle, County Antrim was declared a hate crime by police.

July 12 is the date when the Orange Order mark Protestant King William's ancient victory over Catholic King James, and is the biggest day in the marching season.

A third of the officers are based at Ardoyne in north Belfast, where the Parades Commission has imposed restrictions on a march.

Bonfires marked the start of the July 12 parades

A parade on Saturday morning passed peacefully but Orangemen are prohibited from returning this evening past the homes of Catholic residents who oppose the march.

It came after police confirmed a suspicious package discovered at the sorting office on Mallusk Road in Newtownabbey, on the outskirts of Belfast was a "viable" letter bomb.

A spokeswoman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said experts from the army were sent to the scene of the bomb find.

Loyalists signalled the arrival of July 12 by lighting bonfires at midnight but were criticised for burning election posters of nationalist and republican politicians.

Six hundred parades were expected to take place around the country as a whole.

A map showing the location of the sorting office

Organisers have called on marchers to make sure all the parades pass off peacefully.

Grand Lodge of Ireland Grand Secretary Drew Nelson said: "I would have a message for young protestants or any protestant or unionist who feels strongly about what's happening now.

"If you lift a stone or a bottle on the Twelfth day you are falling into a republican trap," he said.

Police said on Saturday afternoon that they were pleased with the level of violence.

PSNI assistant chief constable Will Kerr said: "I am pleased that last night was one of the most peaceful in recent years and am encouraged by the responsible behaviour of the vast majority of people involved."

With the bill for policing parades and flag disputes reaching £55m in the last 20 months, the authorities hope that violence will be kept to a minimum.

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Archbishops Split Over Right-To-Die Debate

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has made an extraordinary U-turn by announcing he is backing laws to legalise assisted dying.

His support for Labour peer Lord Falconer's Bill, which will be debated in the House of Lords next week, goes against the Church of England's official line that the law on assisted suicide should not change.

Lord Carey said it would not be "anti-Christian" to legalise assisted suicide and that by opposing reform the Church risked "promoting anguish and pain".

He said the case of Tony Nicklinson - the locked-in syndrome sufferer who died after being refused the legal right to die - had the "deepest influence" on his change of heart.

"Here was a dignified man making a simple appeal for mercy, begging that the law allow him to die in peace, supported by his family," he wrote in the Daily Mail.

Most Reverend Justin Welby (top) and former Archbishop Lord Carey

"His distress made me question my motives in previous debates. Had I been putting doctrine before compassion, dogma before human dignity?"

Mr Nicklinson's widow Jane said she was "amazed and thrilled" at Lord Carey's U-turn.

His comments come as a surprise because he was part of a coalition that helped stop Lord Joffe's Assisting Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill in 2006 in the House of Lords.

But while the former Archbishop has come out in favour of a change in the law, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, has condemned the Bill as "mistaken and dangerous".

Tony Nicklinson died two years ago

Writing in the Times, Archbishop Welby warned the "deep personal demands" of individuals should not blind people to the pressures others could be put under should the practice become legal.

"It would be very naive to think that many of the elderly people who are abused and neglected each year, as well as many severely disabled individuals, would not be put under pressure to end their lives if assisted suicide were permitted by law," he wrote.

Archbishop Welby said a law that permitted assisted suicide would be "bound" to lead to some people feeling they ought to stop "being a burden to others".

Assisted suicide is already legal at clinics like this in Switzerland

The Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Rev James Newcome, said the Church of England was "surprised" by the content and timing of Lord Carey's shock intervention.

"I think we were surprised by both the content and the timing of the article but recognise that, actually, quite a lot of good things have come out of it, including that it has brought some of the issues to the forefront of public discussion and highlighted just what an important issue this is," Bishop Newcome said.

"Certainly our hope ... is that the Falconer Bill will be withdrawn and that, because this is such an important issue, it can be discussed at length by a Royal Commission."

Under the 1961 Suicide Act, it remains a criminal offence carrying up to 14 years in jail to help take someone's life.

If successful, Lord Falconer's Bill would allow mentally capable adults in England and Wales to ask for help to die if they were suffering from a terminal illness and had less than six months to live.

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